Friend of Missing MSUM Swim Instructor Speaks Out

24–year–old MSUM swimming instructor, Fanuel Shewarega Asrat went missing after a swim in the Red River early Thursday morning

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The search continues for a missing MSUM student.

What was meant to be a fun night by the river has now turned into a search for a missing man.

MSUM swimming instructor, Fanuel Shewarega Asrat, 24,  went missing after a swim in the Red River early Thursday morning.

“They were on the way to the Red River just to sit by the river or something and they start swimming and later it was like four in the morning, all dark,” said Ayush Thakuri, a friend of Asrat’s. “They don’t see nothing, they hear a few screams like saying something and they said it just ended up like that.”

One of the two men with Asrat made a call to police to report their missing friend at about 7:20 a.m.

Fargo Fire and Valley Water Rescue have been searching the Red River since Thursday.

Asrat is from Ethiopia and according Thakuri, who last saw him Wednesday night, he was finishing one of his last math classes this summer.

“He was actually a very creative person for me,” said Thakuri. “The way he deals with everything, the way he used to share his ideas, about future, about graduation and after graduation…hoping for the best, you know, because he’s still missing.”

Asrat was finishing his education at MSUM, friends from Grantham hall are still hopeful he’ll return home.

“There’s still some part of me that he’ll just show up,” said Thakuri.

Thakuri said Asrat was driven and always talked about the future.

He was currently living in Grantham Hall, which is home to many other international students.

“He was just supportive,” said Thakuri.

The search will continue until he is found.

We talked with other friends who say they are too distraught to speak about their missing friend.

If you have any information on the missing man, you’re asked to contact Fargo Police.