( CNN ) -- Brian Adkins , a newly assigned American diplomat in Ethiopia , was found dead last weekend at his home in the Ethiopian capital , Addis Ababa , an embassy spokesman and a senior State Department official told CNN . U.S. Embassy press officer Michael McClellan identified Adkins and said he was from Columbus , Ohio . He was 25 at the time of his death . `` He was found dead over the weekend and a criminal investigation is under way , '' McClellan told CNN on Thursday . `` The Ethiopian federal police are investigating it . '' Adkins , who would have turned 26 on Monday , received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from George Washington University , according to the school 's newspaper , the GW Hatchet , which reported his death . According to the newspaper , Adkins joined the State Department after receiving his master 's degree in 2007 . A State Department official , who declined to be named because of the ongoing investigation , said it was the diplomat 's first tour of duty as a foreign service officer . There were no apparent threats against him , and investigators were trying to determine whether he was the victim of a random crime . Adkins ' father , Dan Adkins , told CNN affiliate WBNS that his family worried about him , but Adkins assured them he would be safe at a guarded compound . His sister , Tiffany Cooper , said the family was struggling . `` It is hurting us . There is no closure . We have no idea how our brother died , '' Cooper said . The GW Hatchet reported that Adkins moved to Ethiopia as part of a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship , after studying the local language and culture for nearly a year . A GWU student and friend of Adkins described him as `` selfless , hardworking , confident , funny , charming , articulate , a scholar and a gentleman , '' according to the newspaper . `` The world has lost someone who had so much to offer . I miss him tremendously , '' senior Michael Geremia told the newspaper . `` When I received word of his death on Monday , which would have been his 26th birthday , a piece of me died in Ethiopia . '' As a student , Adkins was active in the Knights of Columbus and the Newman Center , which are organizations run by the Catholic church , the paper reported . -- CNN 's Elise Labott and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report .
Adkins says a criminal investigation is under way . Authorities found Adkins dead over Monday . Ethiopia official says it was Adkins first tour of duty as a foreign service officer . There were no apparent threats against Brian Adkins .