But when Takahashi noticed his friend was struggling to cope with issues in his personal life, he wasn’t sure how to help.

“He never wanted to have a serious conversation anymore,” Takahashi said. “You know when your friend’s lying to you. It was obvious what he was going through, and I feel guilty for not being there for him.”

Cooper, a 31-year-old student in the MSU College of Law, was found unresponsive around 1:15 p.m. Sunday in Patriarche Park and later died, East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy said.

Police said an autopsy of Cooper’s body was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, and toxicology reports are pending.

Park employees told police they saw Cooper walking alone near the bathrooms around noon, but later discovered him lying facedown in the grass. When the workers discovered he had no pulse, he was taken to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where he was pronounced dead at 2:40 p.m.

Murphy said Cooper was not found with any visible injuries There is no indication of foul play.

Takahashi said Cooper began to show signs of a drinking problem and recently had gone through a breakup with his longtime girlfriend. But the last time he saw Cooper, a week before, he said his friend seemed to be on the right track.

Police were unsure if alcohol was a factor in his death.

“He seemed to be in a better place,” Takahashi said. “He was moving on up and nursing himself into law school.”

Connell Alsup, an official with the College of Law, confirmed Cooper was a student in the school at the time of his death, but said he could not comment further per the requests of Cooper’s family.

An MSU spokesman said Cooper also was a part-time employee for MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities.

Takahashi said he will remember Cooper as a dedicated friend.

“When you were in a hard place, he was the type of person that would say, ‘Let’s stop talking about it and have fun,’” he said.