Police in Las Cruces, N. M., who discovered a charred body on Nov. 21, identified the man as UW-Madison student Michael J. Mowers on Thursday after Wisconsin detectives matched the fingerprints through a national database.

The body, which was discovered by a town resident, was found partially burned near a concrete culvert entrance to a canal in Las Cruces.

“I notified the University of Wisconsin Police and the Dean of Students office, essentially to assist in anyway we can, particularly with the investigation,” said John Lucas, UW communications spokesperson.

“We really don’t have any more information about what he would have been doing in New Mexico and it just kind of seems like fairly tragic circumstances no matter what.” Lucas said the cause of Mowers death is unclear, but it is unlikely that there was foul play involved. Mowers attended the university for three semesters and was enrolled as a student at the time of his death.

According to a press release from the Las Cruces Police Department, detectives are waiting for results from the New Mexico medical investigator’s office that should help determine Mowers’ cause of death.

“There’s not a lot of new information,” said Dan Trujillo, public information officer for the LCPD.