Student Beau Solomon Found Dead in Rome Had 'Personality, Spirit and Heart,' Brother Says
— -- A Wisconsin family is grieving after 19-year-old college student Beau Solomon was found dead in Rome, where he was studying abroad.
Solomon, of Spring Green, Wisconsin, was in Rome to study at John Cabot University. He disappeared the night of July 1, police said, after he was last seen in a bar not far from the Tiber river.
His body was found in the river Monday morning.
Italian police said today a Roman man was detained in connection with Solomon's death. They said Massimo Galioto, 40, is suspected of aggravated murder without motive.
As the investigation into Solomon's death continues, here's what we know about the college student's life.
He Was 'A Lightning Bolt That Struck Our Worlds,' Brother Told ABC News
"Beau was an amazing kid" with a "personality, spirit and heart" that "were larger than life," his brother Jake Solomon said in a statement to ABC News. He added that Beau was a childhood cancer survivor.
"He made everyone around him better and he always cared more about others than himself," Jake Solomon said.
"We were lucky to have him for 19 amazing years, he was a lightning bolt that struck our worlds," he continued, "but will never leave our hearts."
He Was an Ambitious University of Wisconsin-Madison Student
Solomon just finished his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously studied at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and UW-Richland, according to UW-Madison.
Family members told ABC affiliate WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin, that Solomon had enough credits from high school Advanced Placement classes that he began college with more than one semester's worth of credits.
Another brother, Cole Solomon, told WKOW that Solomon also took two semesters of Italian before his study abroad program.
"He wanted to graduate in three years," Cole Solomon said, calling his brother ambitious.
The Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Rebecca Black, said in a statement: "All of us at UW–Madison are greatly saddened by this loss. Beau was a bright and caring young man who lived the Wisconsin Idea through his work at Badger Boys State and his desire to travel and experience other cultures. Our hearts go out to Beau’s family and friends at this difficult time. UW–Madison is working with John Cabot University and with American and Italian authorities to assist Beau’s family and to support the investigation into his death.”
"He was a great student," his friend Rowan McDonnell told WKOW. "The kind of kid you would want your son to be, would want your brother or friend to be."
"He always had my back," McDonnell said. "He was just the greatest guy."
ABC News' Lisa Sivertsen contributed to this report.
