UPDATED: Police investigate death of Afghan teenager in Webb City

May 20—WEBB CITY, Mo. — State and national Muslim advocacy groups are calling for a "thorough and transparent" investigation into the death of a teenager who recently fled Afghanistan with his family and had resettled in Southwest Missouri.

The student, 14-year-old Rezwan Kohistani, was found dead on May 5 on school property at Webb City High School. His family had arrived in the U.S. in the aftermath of the fall of the previous Afghan government, according to the Missouri chapter and national office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.

The groups said Friday in a statement that they were "saddened and disturbed" by Kohistani's death. They urged local law enforcement to conduct a "thorough, transparent and comprehensive" investigation into the death, and the school district to offer "culturally competent counseling" for parents and the community.

"This tragedy is unfortunately indicative of a larger problem," said Yasir Ali, board chair of the CAIR Missouri chapter, in a statement. "Thousands of newly arrived Afghan refugees are being left with insufficient support from resettlement agencies and caseworkers. Too many refugees aren't being provided with the tools they need to learn English, get jobs and adjust to life in their new home. They are often not even receiving desperately needed medical attention, food stamps and housing. The tragic death of this 14-year-old boy must be a wake-up call. Our government must do more to ensure that newly arrived Afghans receive the assistance they need."

Webb City police Chief Don Melton said his department continues to investigate Kohistani's death. The teen's body was found at around 7 a.m. on Thursday, May 5, near the high school baseball field, he said.

The incident was an "unattended death with no obvious signs of foul play," Melton said, adding that his department was awaiting complete autopsy results before commenting further.

Jasper County Coroner Randy Nace said he ruled the teen's death a suicide by hanging.

Webb City Superintendent Anthony Rossetti said that after the student, whom he declined to identify by name, had been found, the school district followed its crisis plan by first communicating with the student's parents — or, in this case, a representative for the family. He said the district then informed "people that we believed needed to know" about the student's death, which included other students and staff members.

"However, we did not tell everybody that wanted to know; we told the people we thought needed to know," he said Friday. "Being one of the people that was there that morning, I can tell you as a parent there is no way that you would want all this information about what happened to your child across any newspaper or anywhere. I completely agree with them (the family) in their request for privacy."

Allegations of bullying

In the weeks since Kohistani's death, social media has been flooded with reports that the teenager had been bullied. The Missouri chapter and national office of CAIR, in their Friday statement, referenced "the pattern of anti-Muslim and racist bullying to which he (Kohistani) had allegedly been subjected."

Rossetti disputed those reports.

"I know there have been accusations of bullying. Our staff and students are not aware of these accusations," he said. "However, if there are, those people need to contact the police department to do their investigation into those allegations. We want the family to have answers, if there are answers to be had. We completely support that."

Melton, the police chief, said anyone with reports of bullying should report them to law enforcement.

"We have not been able to substantiate any of those allegations," he said. "We are encouraging people to reach out to us so we can investigate it. We are still investigating all aspects of the young man's life."

Rossetti encouraged the public to be patient while police conduct their investigation.

"Our parents who had the misfortune of having their child pass away on government property shouldn't mean that everyone is entitled to know exactly everything that has gone on until the investigation is completed," he said. "We have this desire to know everything and have answers immediately, and we don't have all of those."

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe account has been established for the Kohistani family. It reported that the family will resettle in Texas.

"All donations will go directly to the family to compensate them for loss of income, moving expenses, food, gas and other costs that may arise," the creator of the GoFundMe account wrote on the fundraising page. "We want to ensure that they have the resources to endure this difficult time without a heavy financial burden. Let's come together as a community to support the Kohistanis."

More than $18,000 had been raised for the family as of Friday afternoon.

A candlelight vigil for the teenager has been organized for Saturday night. It will take place from 8 to 9 p.m. at King Jack Park in Webb City.

Globe Editor Andy Ostmeyer and reporter John Hacker contributed to this report.