Ohio State walk on DT, missing, found dead - apparent suicide

[jbcarol]

Bill Rabinowitz @brdispatch  ·  11 minutes ago
Here's our updated story on Karageorge and the search party. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/11/28/search-for-missing-OSU-player.html ...

Family and friends of a missing Ohio State University football player will gather at 1 this afternoon at Stauf's in Grandview Heights to search for him.

Kosta Karageorge, 22, hasn't been seen since he left his E. 7th Avenue apartment at 2 a.m. Wednesday to go for a walk. His cellphone GPS was traced to W. 3rd and Elmwood avenues in Grandview Heights, but his phone hasn't been found.

Karageorge, a senior walk-on defensive tackle who wrestled for three years for the Buckeyes, did not report for practice early Wednesday and was not at yesterday's morning practice.

His sister, Sophia Karageorge, said her brother has a history of sports-related concussions, and the family is worried that he might be disoriented because of one he suffered a month ago.

He was last seen wearing black sweatpants over his jeans, black Timberland boots, a black hoodie with FOC on it and a black beanie on his head. He doesn't have his motorcycle, his wallet or any identification.

He is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 285 pounds. He recently shaved his head and wears a short beard...

Kosta Karageorge, in a photo from Tuesday

[jbcarol]

As The Ohio State University's most anticipated football game of the year kicked off Saturday, concern loomed over the team as one of their players has remained missing since Wednesday. Kosta Karageorge, a 22-year-old defensive lineman from Columbus, had missed practice three days ago, which coaches said is out-of-character, according to a statement from the Columbus Police Department. Karageorge's mother, Susan Karageorge, told NBC affiliate WCMH that he was last seen at his apartment near campus on early Wednesday after sending her a text that read: "Sorry if I am an embarrassment, but these concussions have my head all [expletive] up." The football player and wrestler has a history of sports-related concussions, his mom said.

Karageorge's team members joined a group of about 100 people Friday to search for the fifth-year senior. Former OSU defensive end Matt Finkes offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who can provide a tip leading to Karageorge. OSU's head football coach Urban Meyer added that he's a "hard worker on the field and pleasant off the field" and had been "an important player in practice for us, right up until the time he was reported missing." The Ohio State Buckeyes were playing their arch rival, the University of Michigan Wolverines, on Saturday in Ohio. Seniors, playing their final home game, were recognized before kickoff, and when Karageorge's name was called, a police poster with his information was displayed on a scoreboard.

[spiritof92]

Hopefully this ends like it did with the guy that walked out of the Broncos game.

[jbcarol]

Not Hog related but I always feel for coaches, teams, families, etc., who lose a teammate.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/body-found-near-apartment-missing-osu-player-kosta-karageorge-n258611

I remember the lose of Ueckman. I remember the loss of Shannon Wright. Sad memories.

Might put some perspective on things.

[jbcarol]

Ohio State Buckeyes        ✔ @OhioStAthletics

STATEMENT: OSUDA was shocked and saddened to learn today of the death of student-athlete Kosta Karageorge, a senior from Columbus. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Karageorge family, and those who knew him, during this most difficult time.
6:01 PM - 30 Nov 2014

[jbcarol]

Bruce Feldman @BruceFeldmanCFB  ·  13 hours ago
Michael Bennett, the #Buckeyes senior DT, wearing No. 53 tonight to honor late teammate Kosta Karageorge, had 3 TFLs & 1 sack in 1st half.

[jbcarol]

Finding a dead man saved Linda Mulligan.

When Mulligan opened the lid of a trash bin near her Weinland Park home and saw the body of Kosta Karageorge, she understood how he got there.

Not just what physically happened to the 22-year-old college student, who died from what police say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head. She understood how someone could feel so low, so down on himself, he could crawl into a dumpster and end his life.

"It made me want to fight more for my own life," she said. "Three weeks before this, I could have seen myself like that. ... I know how you can go there."

Mulligan, 49, has been depressed on and off for the last five years, a sadness that was compounded in the last year or so when she lost both her mom and her sister within eight months, she said.

It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and she was dreading the holidays without them when her 8-year-old grandson looked inside the trash bin and screamed for her.

When Mulligan looked inside and saw the body of the Ohio State University senior, she thought, " I don't want my family to find me like this. I don't want to put them through this pain."

"I knew I had my son and grandbabies to keep me going, but honest, (Karageorge) kind of saved me," she said. "He really did."

[LSUFan]

That is so sad. So young, with the world in front of him. Depression is a serious disease that for some reason, has not gained the attention it deserves.

[jbcarol]

Todd Jones @Todd_Jones  ·  Feb 6

Wrote about the Ohio State wrestling team honoring Kosta Karageorge at tonight's final home match: http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/02/06/Ohio-State-wrestling-0206.html ...