FARGO -- Fargo police say the body of what they believe is a North Dakota State University student, missing since Saturday morning, has been found.

Fargo Police Chief Keith Ternes says a body matching the description and clothing of Tom Bearson was found around 11:20 this morning during a search in South Moorhead. He says:

"Shortly after that search started this morning the searchers came across a deceased person lying in an outdoor area over in Moorhead, in the area that was to be searched. The physical description, and the clothing description, of that deceased person leads us to believe that it is in fact our missing person Thomas Bearson."

Tom Bearson
Tom Bearson
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KFGO Radio in Fargo reports the body was found outside at Larry's RV in Moorhead.

Ternes spoke at a short news conference at Fargo City Hall and provided few details. He asked the community to reserve any judgment until more details are found.

Ternes says the investigation will now transition from a search conducted by the Fargo Police Department and North Dakota State University, to a death investigation by the Moorhead Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Bearson was last seen at a party near the NDSU campus early Saturday morning.

NDSU President Dean Bresciani says, because little is known yet about what happened to Bearson, there will be a lot of speculation. But, he urges you to let the investigation run its course:

"My hope would be as a tight knit campus and local community, that out of respect for the family that we'll be careful to do that. That we limit conversations, and we'll not try to imagine what possibly did or did not happen. We are obviously dealing with a family, and with no ill intentions conversations like that can be exceptionally painful."

Yesterday, an extensive search for Bearson in and around the NDSU campus turned up no new clues.

Bearson was a freshman at NDSU. He graduated from Sartell-St. Stephen high school this past spring, where he was a standout basketball player for the Sabres.

Meanwhile, Bearson's church in Sartell, the St. Francis Xavier Church is planning to hold a prayer vigil tonight at 7:00 p.m.

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