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

Police on the scene at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, on February 22.


An aerial view of where a woman was found dead in Athens, Georgia, on February 22, 2024.

The campus will close at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and not reopen until Monday, February 26, the school said.

UGA is located in Athens, approximately 60 miles northeast of Atlanta.

The university is planning a 7 p.m. news conference.
 
I’ve walked these trails many times alone and never felt unsafe. It’s shocking that something like this would happen in broad daylight at a time UGA classes are in session. It’s wooded, but there are usually people around on the trails, intramural fields and tennis courts, dog off-leash area, parking deck, etc.
 
The University of Georgia (UGA) released a statement saying “foul play is suspected” after a female student that went missing was reportedly found dead Thursday near the school’s intramural fields.

The school is cancelling all classes until Monday in the wake of the tragic incident, according to the school’s statement.

A friend of the deceased asked UGA police to do a wellness check on her around noon Thursday after she went for a run but never returned, according to WSBT. Officers performed a search and rescue and found the unnamed student’s body behind Lake Herrick near the intramural fields, WSBT reported.

University officials said the woman was found with “visible injuries,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The tragic incident is the second student death on or near campus after another student was found dead in Brumby Hall, WSBT reported.


could the suicide be related to the murder?
 
Facebook - UGA Press Conference

In my jogging course, we were routinely given the choice to run at the Lake Herrick trails or to stay in the indoor track. I always went to the trails, and typically encountered someone else along the path. IMO you are usually not alone in this area, so I am really hoping someone has heard or seen something.

could the suicide be related to the murder?
I believe the suicide took place the night before the murder, so IMO I believe they are not related
 
I'm local too, have one daughter at UGA and another daughter who graduated last spring and ran at Lake Herrick all the time. I walk out there too and agree with the posters that it would be a difficult place to be sure you were alone. Especially on a beautiful morning like today was. As far as the tragic student suicide, it was the night before and is almost surely unrelated. Tough week for the UGA community though.
 
University of Georgia in Athens is cancelling classes until Monday after a student was found dead.Reports she went jogging -- had "visible injuries" and foul play suspected.Gathering info and will have the latest at 10pm on
@NewsNation.



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University of Georgia student's body was found in a wooded area at the UGA Intramural Fields.She went running this morning, but did not return.We are working to get info... hope to have more by 10pm on
@NewsNation.Classes cancelled at 5:30 tonight on UGA campus til Monday.


University of Georgia police just updated media.Call came in at noon that woman went missing after jogging.Individual was unconscious, not breathing, with visible injuries. Pronounced dead.Victim was a student at a different university.Hasn't been a murder at UGA in 20 years.
 
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Here's a map showing the trails if I did this right. I haven't heard where she was found yet, other than in the woods behind the lake..Most of the trail area is wooded with a few open spaces. UGA operates a ropes course there - my daughter worked for UGA working the ropes course groups.
 
Some aerial footage in this report. Also it says:

"UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark said the victim is not a student at UGA but is a student at another Athens school.

Officials with Augusta University say the victim is a student at their College of Nursing campus in Athens.

Classes at UGA and the Augusta University College of Nursing have been canceled for tomorrow."

 
The woman did not attend the University of Georgia, but was a student at another institution, Clark said. He did not name the school.

Clark said that there are security cameras on the campus, which covers 760 acres in Athens.

Clark said there hasn’t been a homicide on campus in at least 20 years.

Officers searching the area found the woman’s body in a forested area behind Lake Herrick. That area is across a busy road from a large dorm and dining hall complex on what’s commonly called “East Campus.” Most of the students in those dorms are freshmen.
 
Hopefully we start to get information soon that will paint a bit of a picture of what may have happened here. Whenever a crime like this occurs, my mind goes to a crime of opportunity.

I’m pretty sure this is going to be a big national news story once the victim is identified. Once there’s a face to this, it’ll get people’s attention.
 

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