Ilya Zhitomirskiy is one of 4 co-founders of online social networking site Diaspora.  Word of his passing started to spread last night on Diaspora, other social networking sites and around the web in general.

The cause of death is unknown, but our thoughts and well-wishings go out to his family and colleagues.  As a member at Diaspora, I sincerely hope that the project is able to move forward despite this tragedy.

Ilya was only 21 years old.