The 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki was found dead at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mark Troper, a freshman, was found unresponsive in his dorm at the Clark Kerr Campus around 4:23 p.m. local time on Tuesday, according to a statement from the school obtained by People.
Berkeley Fire Department alerted campus police that they were attempting life-saving measures on the student, the statement said. Soon after, police pronounced him dead.
Troper’s grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, revealed in a Facebook post that the student found dead was her grandson.
Our family is devastated beyond comprehension, Esther wrote.
Marco was the most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being. He was just getting [started] on his second semester of his freshman year at UC Berkeley majoring in math and was truly loving it, she said. He had a strong community of friends from his dorm at Stern Hall and his fraternity Zeta Psi and was thriving academically. At home, he would tell us endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley.
Marco’s life was cut too short. And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss and we will miss together. Marco, we all love you and miss you more than you will ever know, she concluded.
Campus police said there were no signs of foul play and a cause of death is under investigation.
Esther told SF Gate she believes her grandson died of a drug overdose.
He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it, Esther said.
One thing we do know, it was a drug, she said, adding, We want to prevent this from happening to any other family.
Troper’s mother, Susan, led YouTube for many years. Her sister and Troper’s aunt, Anne Wojcicki, is the CEO and co-founder of genetic testing company 23andMe.
