UNC student from Wilmington found dead

Feb. 24-- CHAPEL HILL-- Chapel Hill police are investigating the death of a 22-year-old University of North Carolina Chapel Hill student.

Stedman Gage, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior, died Friday night at his off-campus residence in Chapel Hill, according to an email from Joni Worthington, vice president for communications for the University of North Carolina.

He is the son of Hannah Gage, former chairwoman of the UNC Board of Governors, the policy-making body for the multi-campus UNC System.

Gage received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award, the state's highest honor, for her service to the state. She was the first woman to lead the board.

"This is a devastating tragedy and our family is handling the situation as best we can," the Gage family said in an emailed statement provided by Worthington. "We are heartbroken. We ask for your compassion and respect, for our privacy, and that of our son."

Chapel Hill Police Department Lt. Jason McIntyre said the death was not suspicious, and was neither a suicide nor a homicide.

The 911 call came in about 11:11 p.m. Friday as an EMS cardiac arrest call, McIntyre said. The body has been sent to the medical examiner for an autopsy.

"I have offered my support to Stedman's parents in this time of grief," said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp in an email notification to the university. "Please keep Stedman's family and friends in your thoughts as we mourn this latest loss."

Counseling resources were made available to students most immediately affected by the death, the notification said.