The 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki was found dead at the University of California, Berkeley, on Tuesday, his grandmother said on Facebook.
A student who lived at the Clark Kerr Campus — a student housing complex — was found unresponsive Tuesday at about 4:23 p.m. local time, UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore said. The victim’s grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, confirmed his death and his identity in a Wednesday Facebook post.
“My beloved grandson Marco Troper, age 19 passed away yesterday. Our family is devastated beyond comprehension,” Esther Wojcicki said.
She said Troper was “the most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being.”
The Berkeley Fire Department responded to the complex and notified the University of California Police Department that it was “attempting life-saving measures” on the student, Gilmore said. By the time campus police arrived, the BFD had pronounced him dead.
Gilmore said there were no signs of foul play and that an investigation into the death was underway.
According to his grandmother, Troper “was just getting started” in his second semester of freshman year at UC Berkeley, where he was majoring in math “and was truly loving it.”
Aside from “thriving academically,” Esther Wojcicki said, Troper had a “strong community of friends,” both from his dorm and his fraternity.
“At home, he would tell us endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley,” she wrote.
“Marco’s life was cut too short. And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss and we will miss together,” Esther Wojcicki said. “Marco, we all love you and miss you more than you will ever know.”
Esther Wojcicki did not immediately reply to a request for comment from NBC News.
Although a cause of death for Troper has not been determined, Esther Wojcicki told SF Gate that she believes her grandson died from a drug overdose. She said the family is waiting on the results of a toxicology report.
“He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it,” she told SF Gate, adding: “One thing we do know, it was a drug.”
“We want to prevent this from happening to any other family,” Esther Wojcicki told SF Gate.
