Body of Nathan Bihlmaier, missing Harvard Business School student, discovered

The body of Harvard Business School student was pulled Tuesday from a Maine harbor, three days after his drunken disappearance and two days before graduation.

Nathan Bihlmaier, 31, was discovered in the waters off Portland around noon following an increasingly desperate manhunt. One of his flip-flops was found in the harbor one day earlier.

A visibly intoxicated Bihlmaier went missing early Sunday morning after he was ejected from a bar where he was celebrating his scheduled Thursday graduation with two classmates.

Bihlmaier’s parents, his pregnant wife and several of his classmates came to Portland to stand watch as the search continued until Tuesday’s grisly recovery.

The Kansas native’s wife is expecting their first child, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The family was “very upset, stressed,” Harvard Business School spokesman Brian Kenny told the Press Herald. “I think we were all holding out hope he was alive.”

His body was loaded into a hearse and taken to Augusta, Me., for an autopsy, the newspaper reported. He was identified by his clothing, which matched security footage collected from the night when he went missing.

Searchers scoured the harbor using sonar as investigators held out hope that Bihlmaier somehow didn’t fall into the water after leaving the Ri Ra Irish Pub near the Maine State Pier.

Bihlmaier lost his way while heading back to his hotel despite making cell phone calls to his friends for directions, authorities said.

His pals reported Bihlmaier missing on Sunday morning, hours after his last call.


By Larry Mcshane / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS