Teenage student commits suicide after 'sex attack' by Notre Dame football player

Tragic: 19-year-old Elizabeth Seeburg has died from an apparent overdose days after she alleged being raped



A university student has committed suicide days after alleging she was raped by a Notre Dame athlete.

Elizabeth Seeburg was just a few weeks into her freshman year at Saint Mary's College in Indiana when she took her own life.

The 19-year-old from Chicago had battled depression and was found unconscious in her dorm room having taken an overdose of prescription medication.

Nine days earlier Miss Seeburg had reported being sexually assaulted by a football player at the neighbouring college but no one has been charged with a crime.

More than two months after the alleged incident, Notre Dame has not yet released details of its investigation saying they are 'legally prohibited' from divulging any information.

Miss Seeburg's parents have hired a former federal prosecutor to look into Notre Dame's handling of the matter after their process of dealing with the issue was called into question.

No charges have yet been filed in the case and the football player in question remains anonymous.

Coach Brian Kelly said over the weekend that the 'situation is a university matter'.

'I feel like the University would be smart enough to do a thorough investigation and find out if there really is someone responsible and he should be held accountable for it', said Andrew Romero, Notre Dame student.

Chelsea Schmitt, also from the college, said: 'I want to believe that Notre Dame are handling it but I can see that they might not want to talk about it because of the bad name it might bring the student body and the athletes'.

It is being claimed that the Notre Dame Campus Police, which is a fully authorised agency, had not kept local authorities updated on the alleged assault.

There were previous reports that St. Joseph County Police investigating Miss Seeburg's death were not told of her sexual assault complaint.

No arrest: Miss Seeburg alleges she was sexually assaulted by a football player at Notre Dame University but no one has yet been charged



But St. Josephy County prosecutors yesterday released a statement saying that they have received a police report from Notre Dame about the allegation but the complaint was filed two months ago.

'After Ms. Seeburg's death, the Notre Dame Security Police Department investigators assigned to the investigation of her sexual battery complaint contacted the St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit to advise them of the pending investigation'.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said in an e-mail that, 'Notre Dame will never be silent or passive when it comes to the careful, thorough and fair determination of whether laws or university policies have been broken on our campus'.