Nicholas James Mainella, a 20-year-old MSU student who was found dead Tuesday evening of an apparent accidental drug overdose, was remembered as "your best friend" by family members.

"His legacy is really that he loved people," his aunt Kathy Crawford said.

Mainella, of Novi, was found by roommates at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in his Spartan Avenue house, East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said.

He died sometime between 9:30 p.m. Monday and when he was found, she said.

Police are ruling out a suicide and foul play, citing information provided by roommates.

Mainella took two different prescription drugs, Liebler said, adding it is unknown if they were prescribed to him and would not say what drugs were involved.

"The number he took are more than anyone would have prescribed him," she said.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of death, which includes waiting for results of a toxicology report, Ingham County Medical Examiner Dean Sienko said.

Mainella was last seen when he went to bed at 9:30 p.m. Monday, roommates said, after he began feeling the effects of the drugs, Liebler said.

Roommates told police that Mainella had fallen asleep on the couch, and they suggested he go to bed. He told his roommates what drugs he had taken before going to bed, Liebler said.

Mainella's door was still shut when roommate Matt Ludwig, a packaging junior, returned from class at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, and Ludwig said he began to get concerned.

"I broke in his room, and that's when I found him," he said. "I looked at him and knew he was gone the second I turned the light on."

Ludwig said he then called 911.

Ludwig and Mainella went to high school in Novi together and became roommates last fall. Ludwig said Mainella was a good roommate, who was laid-back when he was at home and enjoyed watching sports and playing video games.

Mainella was a construction management sophomore who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps in construction.

Doug Ray, an Albion College sophomore, said he has known Mainella since kindergarten, and although the two went to separate colleges, they kept in touch.

"His friendship was very important to me," he said. "He was the most genuine and outgoing person you could've known.

"Everyone lost a little something when he died."

He was always a positive person, said longtime friend James Slack.

"He always seemed to be on top of his stuff - he never let life get him down," Slack said.

Slack, an MSU economics junior, and Mainella met as sophomores in high school and have been good friends since, Slack said.

Mainella was fun to hang out with and had a good sense of humor, he said. He was very up front with people, which was admirable, and was never too critical of others, Slack said.

"If I ever needed anyone to talk to on a more personal level, we'd talk," he said. "We could relate really well."

Slack said he and Mainella had talked about Mainella's increasing addiction to prescription drugs.

"Every time it was just us in conversation, I'd tell him to slow down," Slack said.

Since the summer, the situation became increasingly worse, he said.

"A lot of people consider taking prescription drugs as not a big deal," Slack said, adding that he tried hard to convince Mainella to seek help.

Crawford said her nephew will be remembered for his good will, good looks, sincerity and concern for others.

"It was a life cut way too short," she said. "He was your best friend. He loved everybody he was with."

Family is requesting donations be made to the Novi Education Foundation.

Lauren Phillips can be reached at phill383@msu.edu.