UGA police chief: No suspects in slaying of woman at intramural fields
Hours after the body of a young woman was found slain at the University of Georgia's popular intramural fields, police investigators said Thursday evening that they have no suspects.
In a late news conference, UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark announced that investigators have not identified the person responsible for the woman’s death.
“There is always a danger,” Clark said when asked if a danger still exists to the public.
The identity of the victim was not made public, but Clark said she is a student at another college and not UGA. The victim was a student at the Augusta University College of Nursing in Athens, according to a letter written by AU President Brooks Keel.
Clark, standing beside Athens-Clarke Police Chief Jerry Saulters, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Jesse Maddox, declined to release a cause of death. Both agencies are assisting in the case and Clark was a longtime officer with the Athens-Clarke police before joining the campus police force.
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Earlier, in a social media post, UGA police said the woman had “visible injuries.”
A search for the woman began immediately after another person called UGA police at about noon to say a friend had gone to the intramural fields to run and did not return, police reported. An officer reported at 12:38 p.m. that he had found the woman, who was unconscious and not breathing.
Medics arrived to determine she was deceased, according to Clark.
Clark, in a somber voice, also expressed condolences to the victim’s grieving family, her friends and the UGA family.
The chief stressed that all leads will be followed in the investigation.
Body found behind Lake Herrick
The woman’s body was found in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick. The woods in this area are laced with trails and are a popular place for students and others to walk and jog.
The intramural fields are sandwiched between College Station Road and Milledge Avenue, and bordered on one side by the Athens Perimeter.
Clark only accepted a few questions at the news conference on what he described as “a tragic day.”
The homicide on campus grounds is the first since Jan. 8, 1996, when a newborn baby was slain inside the Oglethorpe House dormitory. That slaying remained unsolved until early this year when UGA police detectives identified the killer as the infant’s mother, who committed suicide eight years later.
Previous to this slaying, UGA student Donna Lynn Allen was slain on north campus when she was fatally stabbed to death. A man was arrested and sentenced to life..
Two other unsolved slayings of UGA female students occurred off campus.
After Thursday's slaying, UGA cancelled classes for Friday.
There was another death investigated on campus at Brumby Hall on Wednesday, but foul play is not suspected and Clark said it is not connected with Thursday’s homicide case.
Police said anyone with information is asked to contact UGA police at (706) 542-2200.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: No suspect, no motive in slaying of woman at UGA intramural fields
