Falsely accused student of Boston attacks confirmed dead

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Sunil Tripathi
Image caption,
Sunil Tripathi, missing since March, was wrongly identified as one of the Boston bomb suspects

The body of a man found in a Rhode Island river is a student mistakenly identified as one of the Boston bombers, medical officials confirm.

Sunil ­Tripathi, 22, was identified by a forensic dental exam, but his cause of death has not been determined.

Members of a university rowing team found the body on Tuesday evening, a month after Tripathi went missing.

He has been described as the other victim of the bombings after he was wrongly identified a suspect.

On Thursday, the Tripathi family said in a statement they felt "indescribable grief", but were grateful for the outpouring of support.

Media caption,

Sangeeta Tripathi talks about the false accusations against her brother

Mr Tripathi, a Brown University student on leave, was last seen in his apartment in Providence on 16 March. His family had been searching for him with help from the FBI and Brown students.

Brown University's rowing coach called police after spotting the body floating in the Providence River.

On Monday social media website Reddit issued a public apology for its coverage of the Boston bombings after it wrongly named Tripathi and other people as suspects.

His sister, Sangeeta, told the BBC of her family's anxiety at how fast "completely unsubstantiated claims were spreading".

She described how media surrounded their family home after her brother was wrongly named.