IU student was 'most genuine,' friend says
BLOOMINGTON – As darkness settled on the last night of an emotionally devastating weekend in a college town that expected to party but instead had reason to grieve, students gathered at a downtown bar.
Dunnkirk, under the Kilroys business umbrella, agreed to host a celebration of the life of Hannah Wilson, the IU senior found dead in a vacant lot northeast of Bloomington on Friday morning. Sunday night, friends gathered and danced and paid a $5 cover that would be donated to a memorial fund being raised in Wilson's memory.
Late in the evening, Matt Molewyk, resident disc jockey for the Kilroys family of bars, looked over at the bartenders working the event.
"They were all in tears, even people who didn't know her, just because they could see how she affected people," Molewyk said. "Hannah was one of the most genuine people. She cared about everybody."
Wilson's death has shaken this college town of less than 90,000 people. It revisited memories of the still-unexplained disappearance of IU student Lauren Spierer nearly four years ago and stood in stark contrast to the normally celebratory atmosphere that surrounds Little 500 weekend.
Molewyk, whose friendship with Wilson dated back through "most of college," said his friend would never have wanted to bring that kind of pain to others.
"Hannah wouldn't want us to dwell on that," Molewyk said. "We shouldn't forget her. Keep her memory alive. Always remember her. Remember what a good person she was."
When Molewyk first heard Wilson had gone missing, he said he believed she had likely just wound up trying to help someone and lost touch with her friends.
"Hannah's just at the hospital or the vet, just helping someone out, making sure they're OK," he told himself. "Hannah was just that kind of person."
When it became clear something was amiss, Molewyk immediately took to social media to spread the word about his missing friend.
No stranger to promotion and networking, because of his job, Molewyk reached out to everyone he could think of.
"When I started posting on social media, it was just like, 'Find her,'" Molewyk said. "Social media is your friend."
Knowing what ultimately happened left Molewyk devastated and angry. But his next reaction — the one he has tried to stress since — has been one of compassion.
"I have a ton of anger toward this guy, but I know anger solves nothing," Molewyk said, referring to Daniel E. Messel, 49, who has been charged in Wilson's murder.
"(Wilson) would go out of her way to make everyone's lives better. So if we can take anything, take that — be better people, be caring, be kind," Molewyk said. "The best way to honor her is to be like her and treat people better. … Even if we raised a million dollars, to me, it's not enough. No amount of money will replace her. So just keep striving to help their family, help her friends, just keep working to help everyone. Be like her."
Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
