Body Found in Fullerton Identified as Student, 29

A decomposed body found on an Orange Freeway embankment was identified Wednesday as that of a 29-year-old Cal State Fullerton student.

Danming “Peter” Huang was reported missing Aug. 30 after telling a housemate that he was going to visit relatives in Los Angeles, but they said he had not been expected and that he never arrived.

The cause of Huang’s death has not been determined, but detectives say there is no indication of foul play. Huang was identified through X-rays and personal effects found in a backpack near the body, Fullerton Police Capt. Ron Rowell said.

The body was found Tuesday afternoon by a passing motorist who reported what appeared to be a man lying under a bush on the west embankment of the Orange Freeway just south of Chapman Avenue.

Investigators believe Huang has been dead since the day he was reported missing, but toxicology tests will determine the exact date and cause of death, Rowell said. That could take weeks.

Huang, a student from China, was beginning the second year of a two-year master’s degree program in physics.

People close to the young man said he had been overwhelmed by the change in culture and was concerned about how things were going in school.

He had come to the United States with great expectations and as one of the top in his class, said Dongming Cai, Huang’s only brother.

“It was part of his dream to pursue the degree in the United States,” said Cai, who lives in New Mexico.

Despite a seven-year age difference, the two brothers were very close, Cai said. Cai recalled tearfully how he took care of his little brother when they were children. Their parents are still in China.

Huang was a good student, said Mark Shapiro, chairman of the physics department at Cal State Fullerton. “Everyone felt that he did have plenty of promise to finish the program.”

But Huang was having some trouble with the language and finding an advisor for his thesis, Shapiro said.

Before his disappearance, Huang failed to show up for three laboratory classes that he was supposed to teach. Huang was depressed and had gone to the campus health center for medication, Shapiro said.

Huang was not adjusting well to American culture, said Vincent Smith, his housemate.