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April 17, 2004

04/17/04: Marlon Blue, 21, DeKalb, IL

After bar hopping with some friends, Marlon Blue, 21, planned to meet up with some friends who lived in an apartment building. His friends in the car dropped him off about two blocks from the building. Blue told his friends he had to “go to the bathroom first” before entering the building. Blue never made it inside, and his friends assumed he had just walked home. His body was found in a retention pond the following day.

Clues
Blue lived on the NIU campus in the Stevenson Towers residence hall. His friends reported him missing Saturday afternoon after a stranger answered Blue’s cellular phone. The man said he discovered the phone on the sidewalk outside the apartment building. When they returned to the building to reclaim his phone, they found the shirt he was wearing that night.

Search and Recovery
Police called in bloodhounds, which smelled the shirt and went right to the pond. Police then called in a diving team to search the pond, and divers discovered Blue’s body submerged in about eight feet of water. He was fully clothed (presumably with the exception of the shirt his friends found). The pond was two blocks from the building where Blue was dropped off. Police said Blue had not been robbed and his death was "purely accidental."

Visitation for Marlon Devon Blue was 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday (4/25) at Tews Funeral Home, 18230 S. Dixie Highway, Homewood. Visitation was also one hour prior to 11 a.m. services on Monday (4/26) at Living Springs Community Church, 19051 S. Halsted St., Glenwood. Interment was at Washington Memory Gardens.

Facts of Interest
Name/age: Marlon Devon Blue, 21
College: Northern Illinois University, Biological Science major
Physical description: unknown
Last seen: 04/17/04, 2 a.m.
Recovered: 04/18/04, 10:30 a.m., retention pond off Regent Street (10-12 feet deep)
Cause of death: drowning
Manner of death: accident
Injuries: unknown
Blood Alcohol Content: .155

Sources
Badger Herald
WIFR

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