Missing student

For those of you that don't know, there was a search for a student named Austin Bice for the past week. He was studying abroad just like myself and he went missing in Madrid about 10 days ago. I saw lots of Facebook events and statuses about him, and had hoped for his safe return. I hadn't heard anything in a few days so I decided to look up if there was any progress. Sadly, I came upon this Huffington Post article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/08/austin-bice-dead-missing-_n_832750.html?ir=World) titled "Missing SDSU Student Found Dead In Spain". Immediately, my heart sunk. Just a few days ago, we heard the news of a missing study abroad student and now he is gone. I can't believe it. My condolences go out to his family. I can't imagine the pain they are going through right now. Austin was young and in Spain to explore and learn more about the culture and himself. Now his cold body lies somewhere waiting for people to perform an autopsy on him. This scares me so much. A life was taken just like that. Death alone is scary enough to think about but the fact that Austin could've been someone I knew or even more could have been me. Sometimes we forget how fragile our lives are. We forget real dangers lurks in every corner of this world. I sometimes compare my life to a movie or story until I realize this is reality. This is real life. People get hurt. People die. Studying abroad can be an amazing experience, or sometimes it can end tragically such as Austin's or numerous other students. This is such a wake up call that I need to be more careful. I will admit my guard is usually up but I have let it down a few times. How much do you really know about anyone or anything? I can only trust myself and pray that I am protected and stay safe. Thank you to those of you who are constantly looking out for me. I am shaken up with Austin's death but it is definitely a reality check I needed.
Rest in Peace. I may not have known you but my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.