Alexandra Frizzell, a fourth-year in the College, was found dead Monday by the Chicago Police Department in a private apartment off campus at 4:55 p.m., according to University of Chicago Police Department Daily Incident Reports. She was 21. According to the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner, cause of death is still unknown. The results of the toxicology report will be available in two months.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Frizzell grew up in Boise, Idaho. She was an active member of her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, an honors economics major, and a lover of the outdoors, according to her sorority sister, third-year Jessica Jia.
“She was highly interested in many different things. She was truly very inquisitive and curious about the world, and that showed through in her involvement,” Jia said. “She was planning on going to medical school, so she wanted to work at a hospital in South America [after graduation].”
According to Jia, Frizzell was particularly interested in environmental economics and policy.
“Alex was devastatingly brilliant, compassionate, and full of life. She always carried this incredible sense of humor and easy-going nature with her everywhere she went. Alex was selfless. Alex always knew what to do,” Jia said in a statement to her sorority sisters.
“This is a terrible, tragic loss. She was an incredibly talented young woman… She left loads of friends and faculty who loved her and her intelligence and her drive,” said Susan Art, Dean of Students in the College.
Frizzell is survived by her parents Barb and Tyler Frizzell, and her four siblings, Erin, William, Jon, and Anna.
A memorial service open to the University and organized by her sorority, Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and the University will be held on Monday, February 11 at 8 p.m. in Rockefeller Chapel.
Feb 12, 2013: This article has been updated to reflect ongoing developments.