POSTED: 8:16 am CST December 14, 2005
UPDATED: 8:21 am CST December 14, 2005

It was Owen Odigie's first year living away from his Hoffman Estates home, his father, Mathew Odigie, said in a telephone interview Tuesday night.

"He went to bed last night and he didn't wake up this morning," Mathew Odigie said.

Owen Odigie, of 2027 Huttner Court in Hoffman Estates, was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Stein Institute, according to a Cook County medical examiner's office spokesman. His autopsy would be performed on Wednesday, the spokesman said.

A sophomore at Roosevelt studying business administration, Owen Odigie stayed in a single dorm room, his father said.

He was found unresponsive in his dorm room, in the residential building listed at 425 S. Wabash Ave., sometime during the day on Tuesday, according to police.

He had spent his first year of study at the university commuting from his parents' home in Hoffman Estates.

Mathew Odigie said a person working at the dormitory opened his son's door and found him lying on his bed after one of his classmates reported not seeing him in class.

Owen Odigie's father did not know of any previous medical history, and he did not suspect that his son had consumed drugs or alcohol.

"He wouldn't," his father said.

One of four siblings, Owen Odigie was survived by one brother and two sisters, Mathew Odigie said. He said his son enjoyed music and computers.

Mathew Odigie said he came to the United States from Nigeria in 1977, and his son was born in Elk Grove Village.

A representative from the university was not immediately available for comment early Wednesday.

Information provided by City News Service