UPDATE: Woman Found Dead on the Campus of UGA

University of Georgia officials have confirmed that they have taken a suspect into custody in the murder of a 22-year-old nursing student on the UGA campus.

Friends reported Laken Riley missing after they say she went for a jog Thursday near the university’s intermural fields and never returned.

 

Police found her unconscious and injured in a wooded area behind the fields around 12:30 p.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene and police have ruled her death a homicide. Police said Riley died of blunt-force trauma.

 

On Friday, police swarmed an apartment complex off S. Milledge Avenue.

 

Police have since confirmed the arrest of 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, who is expected to be charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another.

 

Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen and was not a student at UGA, according to UGA police.

 

Police said Iberra and Riley did not know each other and called it a “crime of opportunity.” They said they believe Ibarra acted alone.

 

“This is an individual who woke up with bad intentions on that day,” UGA police chief Jeff Clark said.