Body Found at Sea May Be Davis'

A body found Saturday on the coast of South Africa may be that of a missing Georgetown student who was swept into the ocean by a wave last week, an official said yesterday.

South African rescue authorities recovered a body on Saturday evening off the coast of Harkerville, South Africa, which an official said could be missing Georgetown student Terrance Davis (COL ’10), who last week was reported to have been swept into the ocean by a wave.

“I recovered the body at 5:30 p.m. Saturday evening, approximately two and a half kilometers from where Terrance went missing,” Ray Farnham, commander of the Plettenberg Bay Station of the National Sea Rescue Institute, said Monday afternoon. “He had been spotted about 200 meters off the coast, but was caught in a strong current, and we picked him up about one kilometer out to sea.”

Farnham said he is currently awaiting confirmation of his identity.

“I’ve handed the body over to the forensic pathology unit to see if it can be identified as Terrance’s,” he said. “The only way they can do this is using the fingerprints the Embassy has on file from when he applied for his passport.”

Farnham said that the U.S. Embassy in South Africa had been informed, as has Davis’ family, and that he expects to have confirmation by Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Davis has been missing and presumed drowned since he was taken by a large wave at approximately 11:45 a.m. last Monday while on a spring break trip to South Africa’s coast. Davis had been spending his fall semester abroad at the University of Cape Town with 10 other Georgetown students.

Brian McInerney, consulate chief at the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town, said that the consulate is not authorized to release any information regarding Davis’ status.

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