"We just had a great friendship right off the beginning," said Buzby.
Buzby roomed with the native Brazilian where they quickly became the best of friends. He was even there when Schmidt fell for fellow student Alex Crolow of Germany.
"She was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's him, that's him,'" said Buzby.
Buzby said Schmidt and Crolow were like family, the nucleus of his close knit group during his studies which they all finished last August.
"Super, super happy, all of her latest pictures she was all smiles," said Buzby.
On Tuesday, Buzby learned Schmidt and Crolow are believed to have been on Air France flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
"All of our friends aren't ready to say they are still hoping for some miracle," said Buzby.
The two budding international lawyers were returning to Germany from Brazil after a very special trip to Schmidt's home.
"This was Alex taking her back to tell her mom they were going to get married, something her mom had always wanted for her," said Buzby.
However, they never made it to Germany to tell Crolow's family about their wedding plans.
"I just hope that they were not suffering, and at least they were together, because I would have hated for one of them to go through it alone," said Buzby.
He said he is particularly worried about Schmidt's family. Reality may take time to set in for her two sisters and especially her mother.
"She was yelling in the background in broken English, 'Julia can swim, Julia can swim,'" said Buzby.
For this Houstonian the news is already hitting home.
"They were my two best friends. I just hope she knows I loved her," said Buzby.
Julia Schmidt turned 27 in January and Alex Crolow's 27th birthday is just two days away. Buzby is working on flight arrangements as he's trying to decide whether to join former classmates in Germany or go be with the family of his former roommate in Brazil.
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