The body of a 21-year-old NIU student was found Sunday morning in a retention pond off Hillcrest Drive. He was a victim of an apparent drowning, said Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department.

Marlon Devon Blue, a Homewood resident, last was seen by friends early Saturday, Kayes said. Blue supposedly was on his way to a party in the 900 block of Regent Drive after hanging out at local bars, Kayes said.

He never made it to the party, and he did not return to his Stevenson Towers residence hall room. A stranger answered a call that friends made to Blue’s cell phone and said he had found the phone unattended near the pond, Kayes said. A search of the area also resulted in Blue’s shirt.

Laura Houston, a junior communication major and a friend of Blue, called police after she became concerned about his whereabouts late Saturday. She had spent time with him the night he disappeared and was supposed to meet him at a party on Regent Drive.

Police dogs were able to track the scent from Blue’s shirt to the pond, Kayes said. Divers and a rescue team discovered his body at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning in 8 feet of water, more than 24 hours after he disappeared.

It is unknown why Blue would have gone into the pond, Kayes and Houston both said.

“Those ponds may look benign, but once you get in there, they are treacherous,” Kayes said. “The bottoms can get murky.”

DeKalb police and the DeKalb County Coroner’s office are investigating the death. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Visitation information for Blue is pending.