PETERSBURG, Va. — A university spokesman says two Virginia State University students who went missing in the Appomattox River over the weekend were not participating in any activities related to the school.
The search for the two resumed Monday. Police say they entered the river on Saturday with a group near the campus in Petersburg and were last seen near the Martin Luther King Bridge.
The university identified the students as freshmen Jauwan Holmes and Marvell Edmonson.
Spokesman Thomas Reed says the disappearance is under investigation, after a number of social media posts claimed the men were taking part in some sort of initiation ritual.
Reed says they were not participating in any VSU-sanctioned events, but that hazing had been a problem with some groups.
Authorities planned to continue the search until dusk.
