Thank you for your interest in wanting to find out what happened to my friend and colleague Toby Mendia.

I’m Ami Takahashi, a graduate student of zoology at Whitlock University. Toby Mendia, a fellow graduate student here at Whitlock, had joined the expedition as their photographer.

Unfortunately, the trip was cut short. Toby died five weeks before the expedition was planned to end. The press release from Whitlock says that he was the victim of an animal attack, “despite all possible precautions.”

Toby was a good friend of mine. I live pretty far from my family, but he always made sure to include me on holidays so I never had to spend that time alone. The reminder that I won’t get to have Thanksgiving in his tiny apartment ever again… Whatever happened on that trip, this is the last chance I have to take care of Toby the way he took care of me.