Found Deceased GA - University of Georgia Laken Hope Riley, 22, found dead near University of Georgia intramural fields, foul play suspected, 22 Feb 2024

[imstilla.grandma]

Bianca Tiller, who roomed with Riley during their freshman year at UGA, said, "She was the sweetest, most pure-hearted young woman" who "brought so many people together and developed so many friendships."

"I came into UGA knowing less than a handful of people and she brought me into her friend group, never let me feel left out," Tiller said about Riley. "She made everyone smile and and is such a kind soul."

"The great thing about Laken, everyone she met could instantly tell what a great heart she was," Tiller added.

Tiller said her former roommate loved to run and kept track of her runs on her Apple Watch. Riley always shared her phone’s location with her friends, Tiller said.

Lilly Steiner, another friend from UGA, thanked Riley in a tribute posted Saturday on Instagram for "helping me find the joy in life."

"You put everyone before yourself everyday, and you loved like no one else," Sofia Magana, one of Riley's roommates at UGA, said on Instagram.

"You were supposed to be by my side on my wedding day, you were supposed to be with us on graduation ... but most importantly you were supposed to be here with us," Magana wrote.

Sophia Palomino said in a tribute post that Riley "taught me so many lessons about life, friendship & sisterhood" and said "her love has changed me for the better." She added that she admired how Riley was always putting others before herself.

Connolly Huth, who also lived with Riley, recalled their shared memories and said she and Riley were supposed to run their first marathon together.

"I will run that 26.2 in your honor and let everyone know of the perfect, beautiful, hilarious, smart, kind, and driven human that Laken Riley was," Huth wrote in an Instagram post.

Friends, classmates remember student found slain at UGA as neighbors describe suspect’s arrest

Laken Hope Riley, 22, was found dead on the University of Georgia campus Thursday. A suspect in her slaying was arrested Friday night.

www.nbcnews.com

UGA students petition for blue emergency lights on campus following nursing student's death

The university made the decision in 2004 remove the call boxes because of wide cell phone usage.

www.11alive.com

 

[layer]

But a sexual predator would likely spend a fair amount of time scoping out locations where he could make a surprise attack on a woman.

Has the word sex been used in association with this crime?

 

[Katiegam]

Has the word sex been used in association with this crime?

Not anywhere that I have seen in the media, and as a local, I haven’t heard any chatter.

 

[acutename]

My condolences to the family, friends and community of Laken Riley. I hope as they continue to advocate for justice on the behalf of their beloved, they are given all the love, support and peace they deserve.

One thing I noticed is that the individuals in the Victor Franco and Diego Ibarra pages have similar hair cuts to the perp in the LA home invasion video who is also responsible for Rachel Morin’s murder and the sexual assault of an underage girl in the LA home. IMO, the haircuts do seem to standout or perhaps I am just not used to seeing such styles. Still, this makes me wonder if LE are able to link that hairstyle or cut to a specific city, region, subculture or cultural group where it is considered more trendy or more commonly seen? Perhaps this may help narrow down the perp’s background or interests or social groups? Also I wonder if it would be helpful to LE to ask barbers in the LA and park areas around where the attacks occurred if they remembered giving such a haircut around the time crimes occurred and seeing if they can gather any data or identification that way? In particular, I was wondering this more in the LA case since it looks like in the surveillance video that perp’s may have been cut recently?

I just happened to walk by a barber shop early last evening- cannot tell you how many men, some with boys in tow, getting a cut and a lot of them had cuts somewhat like these- all the barber chairs were full. What I actually thought: these guys have jobs and need hair cuts and can pay for them. Another thought though is that a lot of people get a clipper and do their own, family's , friend's cuts to save $ and it's convenient. Wish I thought that these cuts were really unique.

 

[BreakingNews]

Brave. Channel

 

[Iloveicarly]

Tiller said her former roommate loved to run and kept track of her runs on her Apple Watch. Riley always shared her phone’s location with her friends, Tiller said.

this is interesting because if she was wearing her Apple Watch the morning of her murder then it may have been the watch that notified her emergency contact or attempted to call the emergency line. If Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 4 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra or later detects a hard fall while you're wearing your watch, it will tap you on the wrist, sound an alarm and display an alert. If it detects no movement for about a minute then it will automatically call emergency services. If the obstructed call wasn’t made directly from Lakens phone then it could have been her Apple Watch. Jose may have been caught off guard by the alarm sound on the watch and interfered with it.

 

[bestill]

This article has a lot of personal information about Jose. He was a doordash and ubereats delivery guy while in NYC, which is where he was arrested for having a five year old on the back of a gas powered moped with no restraint or head protection. Makes me question how well these companies vet their drivers!

Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder crossed border in El Paso before being busted in NYC and released, wife reveals

The illegal immigrant arrested for killing a Georgia nursing student crossed the border in Texas Sept. 8 last year and was sent to a processing facility there, but was quickly released.

nypost.com

 

[Iloveicarly]

This article has a lot of personal information about Jose. He was an doordash and ubereats delivery guy while in NYC, which is where he was arrested for having a five year old on the back of a gas powered moped with no restraint or head protection. Makes me question how well these companies vet their drivers!

Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder crossed border in El Paso before being busted in NYC and released, wife reveals

The illegal immigrant arrested for killing a Georgia nursing student crossed the border in Texas Sept. 8 last year and was sent to a processing facility there, but was quickly released.

nypost.com

This is not surprising, i heard that in NYC in particular there has been a rise in unvetted drivers borrowing or renting genuine Uber eats and door dash accounts. Migrants are actively using these accounts under other people’s details. Some are even paying account holders to gain access. I do know that ubereats perform criminal background checks though and that workers must be over the age of 18 with a valid right to work but somehow this isn’t enough. it’s actually very frightening knowing an individual like Jose had potential access to customers homes and personal details like addresses. many driver’s especially in big city’s like NYC will most likely have to access multiple private residences per day. It’s a security issue!

 

[Sustained]

This is not surprising, i heard that in NYC in particular there has been a rise in unvetted drivers borrowing or renting genuine Uber eats and door dash accounts. Migrants are actively using these accounts under other people’s details. Some are even paying account holders to gain access. I do know that ubereats perform criminal background checks though and that workers must be over the age of 18 with a valid right to work but somehow this isn’t enough. it’s actually very frightening knowing an individual like Jose had potential access to customers homes and personal details like addresses. many driver’s especially in big city’s like NYC will most likely have to access multiple private residences per day. It’s a security issue!

Not that it would help at this point, but I'd like to know if Ibarra has a criminal record in Venezuela.

 

[iamshadow21]

Not that it would help at this point, but I'd like to know if Ibarra has a criminal record in Venezuela.

Depending on the level of mess the country is in, there may be no way to find that out, no matter how much we and LE would like to know.

 

[Sundog]

This article has a lot of personal information about Jose. He was a doordash and ubereats delivery guy while in NYC, which is where he was arrested for having a five year old on the back of a gas powered moped with no restraint or head protection. Makes me question how well these companies vet their drivers!

Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder crossed border in El Paso before being busted in NYC and released, wife reveals

The illegal immigrant arrested for killing a Georgia nursing student crossed the border in Texas Sept. 8 last year and was sent to a processing facility there, but was quickly released.

nypost.com

This article also interviews his wife who has a 5 year old child, according to the article, and says that she and Jose Iberra grew up together in Venezuela.

edited to make correction

 

[Elley Mae]

This article also interviews his wife, the mother of their 5 year old child, according to the article, and says that she and Jose Iberra grew up together in Venezueal.

Wonder if the wife has info on his criminal record in venezuela.

 

[investigatefred]

This article also interviews his wife, the mother of their 5 year old child, according to the article, and says that she and Jose Iberra grew up together in Venezueal.

I don't think it's his child. The article says:

Jose Antonio Ibarra and wife Layling Franco of Venezuela entered El Paso together with her 5-year-old son, she said.

 

[stmarysmead]

So one of the charges had to do with ‘preventing a 911 call.’ So he had his hands on her cell phone.

What if he was actually trying to steal the cell phone… <modsnip>

 

[Sundog]

I don't think it's his child. The article says:

Jose Antonio Ibarra and wife Layling Franco of Venezuela entered El Paso together with her 5-year-old son, she said.

Agree, the article isn't clear. Did he claim to have a child when he applied for asylum? Did he and his wife agree to join forces before they crossed the border to strengthen his case for asylum as a married man with a child? The article alludes to that but it isn't clear. There will be records with the Department of Homeland Security and I think Congress is trying to get those records now. If this isn't his child, and if they weren't legally married, this may be another fraud that he committed when he applied for asylum at the border.

 

[iamshadow21]

So one of the charges had to do with ‘preventing a 911 call.’ So he had his hands on her cell phone.

What if he was actually trying to steal the cell phone…<modsnip>

I think there's more to indicate that this is a single person blitz attack against a woman for the usual reason - a sexual attack.

Runners do tend to run with phones, yes, but not with other valuables favoured by muggers - wallets, purses, jewellery, watches (besides smart watches). So it's much slimmer pickings for someone looking purely to rob.

MOO

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On Saturday, the New York Post spoke to Ibarra's wife, 23-year-old Layling Franco, about their background and her reaction to the charges against her husband. According to Franco, the couple crossed the border into the U.S. in September of last year, living for a time in New York City where Ibarra worked for various food delivery app companies.

In November, the couple split and Ibarra moved to Georgia to live with his brother, Diego, who appears to have a past connection with UGA.

Speaking on the allegations now leveled against Ibarra, Franco told the Post that the charges do not reflect the calm man she knew and that she would like the opportunity to speak with him. Despite that, she also said that if the allegations are true, he should "pay for what he did."

"Yesterday when [Jose] was arrested, my brother-in-law called me early to say he'd been arrested," Franco said. "We got married so we could join our asylum cases. He was the person I thought I could see through. We've known each other our entire lives."

She added: "He wasn't aggressive, none of that. We had problems as a couple but our problems weren't physical. We wouldn't punch but we'd raise our voices...I want to talk to [Jose]. I have a lot of faith that this wasn't him, that there was a misunderstanding somewhere. But if he did, he has to pay for what he did, truly."

Jose Antonio Ibarra's wife speaks out after Laken Riley's death

Ibarra's wife said that she has "a lot of faith" her husband is innocent, but said that he should "pay for what he did" if guilty.

www.newsweek.com

 

[Sundog]

This article has a lot of personal information about Jose. He was a doordash and ubereats delivery guy while in NYC, which is where he was arrested for having a five year old on the back of a gas powered moped with no restraint or head protection. Makes me question how well these companies vet their drivers!

Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder crossed border in El Paso before being busted in NYC and released, wife reveals

The illegal immigrant arrested for killing a Georgia nursing student crossed the border in Texas Sept. 8 last year and was sent to a processing facility there, but was quickly released.

nypost.com

Also in the article, a statement from Jose Iberra's "wife" who crossed the border with him into Texas -

“We got married so we could join our asylum cases,” she told The Post. “He was the person I thought I could see through. We’ve known each other our entire lives.

 

[Elley Mae]

How did they find him, sorta quick, did he have her phone?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

In Feb., UGA officials told Channel 2 Action News he had been working as a campus dishwasher at Bolton Dining Hall. A spokesperson for the university said Diego Ibarra gave them a fake green card to get the job, but since he never submitted the correct documents to keep his job, he was never paid.

Jose and Diego Ibarra: Court documents reveal immigration, criminal past in the United States

New details regarding the immigration and criminal history of a Venezuelan man accused of killing a 22-year-old nursing student, as well as his brother, who was arrested during the investigation, have been released.

www.wsbtv.com