Ethiopian authorities have arrested a man in connection with the suspicious death of alumnus Brian Adkins, a Foreign Service officer found dead in Ethiopia last week, State Department representatives said Wednesday.

The State Department would not release the name of the suspect nor add further comment, citing an ongoing homicide investigation. Adkins worked for the State Department as a Foreign Service officer stationed in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. Representatives from the Department said last week that Adkins died in his home on Jan. 31 and was found two days later.

Local media reports say the suspect was found with a number of items Adkins owned, including a cell phone, laptop computer and camera.

Michael Geremia, a senior, is accompanying Adkins’ body to the United States this week.

Adkins’ family asked that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Brian Daniel Adkins Memorial Fund. The fund will help pay for the private, Catholic school education of Adkins’ young nephew Chase, Geremia said.

“This was very important to Brian, and is one of many examples of his selflessness,” Geremia wrote in an e-mail. “Although he never advertised it, while working for the State Department, he set aside a portion of each paycheck for Chase’s education.”

Adkins graduated from GW in 2007 after earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees in international affairs.

A Funeral Mass and Rite of Christian Burial in his honor will be held on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Adkin’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio.