A student who was found dead inside a University of California Berkeley dorm has been identified by family members as the son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.
The student, identified as 19-year-old Marco Troper, was found at 4:23 p.m. Feb. 13 in a dorm at the university’s Clark Kerr Campus, UC police said in a statement. First responders attempted lifesaving measures, but the student was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
In a post on Facebook, Esther Wojcicki identified Troper as her grandson and said he had just started the second semester of his freshman year and was majoring in math.
“Our family is devastated beyond comprehension,” Wojcicki wrote. “Marco was the most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being.”
Wojcicki did not respond to The Standard’s request for comment. She told SFGATE that she believes Troper ingested a drug that killed him.
“He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it,” she said. “One thing we do know, it was a drug. We want to prevent this from happening to any other family.”
Wojcicki added that the family is waiting on a toxicology report to confirm the cause of death.
Troper comes from a well-known family in Silicon Valley, according to SFGATE. His mother, Susan Wojcicki, led YouTube as CEO for several years before resigning last February. His aunt Anne Wojcicki is the co-founder and CEO of the genetic testing company 23andMe.