An Iowa State student was found dead in his car in rural Dallas County Saturday.

Craig A. Wildman, 19, a freshman in business, was discovered in his car in a cornfield northwest of Perry. The Dallas County Sheriff’s office said he appeared to be dead on the scene.

“We feel confident enough it was suicide. There was no foul play and there will be no further investigation,” said Bob DeCamp, Dallas County’s chief sheriff’s deputy. “Visually the cause of death was carbon monoxide, pending the autopsy report by the medical examiner,” Wildman said. Wildman’s roommate and friend from Wolf House in Larch Hall, Mike Strange, said he has known Wildman for seven years. He said Wildman’s death took him by surprise.

“He never let anything bother him. He was always considerate of others, and he was always making plans for his future,” Strange said.

Wildman, a Norwalk native, was active in high school last year and had gotten involved at ISU, Strange said. He said Wildman played intramural tennis at ISU and was a volunteer Big Brother for the YWCA here in Ames.

Wildman ran cross country for Norwalk High School and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class last spring, said Tom Fish, his high school principal.

“He was the kind of student you wish you had a whole building full of,” Fish said. “He was capable of anything.”

Fish said those close to Wildman, family members included, don’t as of yet know what drove the teen-ager to take his own life.

ISU’s Coordinator of Residence Life, Sally Deters, said a counseling staff was available in the Wolf House den last night to help residents cope with Wildman’s death.