Nicholas Upton's Body Found In South Africa: Missing George Washington University Student Vanished Into The Surf

The body of American college student Nicholas Upton was found Friday along the rugged Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa near the small town of Coffee Bay, the country’s state broadcaster reported. An update on a GoFundMe page that had raised more than $83,000 to help Upton’s parents travel to South Africa to search for their son stated Friday: “It is with great sadness that I update you. Nick's body was recovered and will be flown home with his family.”

Upton was a junior at George Washington University who was studying abroad in South Africa at the University of Cape Town. He was on a beach trip with five other people Sunday when he disappeared, according to South Africa’s National Sea Rescue Institute. The 19-year-old Connecticut native was last seen swimming in the Eastern Cape around 10:30 p.m. local time when he vanished into the surf.

"The teenager is missing and he is now presumed to have drowned," the National Sea Rescue Institute said in a news release Monday.

Rescuers called off the search on Tuesday. Also that day, Upton’s mother, Margaret Mirowski, said she and her husband planned to fly to South Africa on Wednesday to continue the search, according to New Britain news station WVIT in Connecticut.

The update on the GoFundMe page, set up by a woman named Linda Bigelow McCue, further stated, “Words cannot express how grateful my friend Margaret and her family are to each and every one of you for your support, whether it was monetarily or prayerful. I do not have much information at this time but wanted all of you to be aware. I would ask that you to please be respectful and give them some time to grieve and bring their son home, as I'm sure you will. Continue to keep the whole family in your thoughts and prayers.”