(ANSA) - Rome, July 5 - Italian police have detained a man suspected of killing 19-year-old American student Beau Solomon, whose body was found in the River Tiber in Rome on Monday, sources said on Tuesday. The suspect is a 41-year-old homeless man and Rome native, the sources said. He is accused of aggravated homicide.
Robbery or an argument are possible motives investigators are looking into, sources said.
The United States Ambassador to Italy John R. Phillips on Tuesday described the death as a tragedy.
"I was saddened to learn of the tragic death of Beau Solomon," Phillips said in a statement.
"My heart goes out to his family and friends. "The U.S. Embassy stands ready to provide support to Italian authorities investigating his disappearance and death".
University of Wisconsin student Solomon, who came to Rome to do a five-week course at John Cabot University, was probably pushed into the river in the area of Ponte Garibaldi bridge, suffering a fatal head wound on his way down into the river, the police said after two witnesses came came forward and the murder probe was opened Monday. The body was found without a wallet or cellphone and his credit cards were used after he went missing, leading police to believe Solomon was robbed before being thrown into the river.
Solomon, described as a "sociable and sporty" young man, had defeated a rare cancer of the eye as a boy, his family said.
After Solomon's body was found in the river, John Cabot issued a statement saying: "We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau". After the disappearance, Solomon's parents called their son's credit card company and "realized thousands of dollars had been charged" in Milan to his account, his brother, Jake Solomon, said. The sophomore was last seen around 1 a.m. on Friday while at a pub in Rome, and his roommate became "worried when he did not see Beau at orientation that morning," John Cabot University said in a statement issued Sunday. Solomon's parents arrived in Italy Monday, Jake Solomon said. "In our family, he is the one who does it all right. He's an incredible athlete. He is the one that keeps us all together," Jake Solomon told NBC News before his brother was confirmed dead. "He was driven, career oriented".