A suspect was arrested Friday in connection with the death of a student who went missing Thursday while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, authorities said.
“Suspect in the Laken Riley murder has been taken into custody by the University of Georgia Police Department,” university police said in a statement. “At this time, there is no indication of an ongoing threat to the UGA campus related to this matter.”
Police later identified the suspect as Jose Antonio Ibarra, local media outlets WGAU and WSB-TV reported. He is expected to be charged with malicious murder, aggravated murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, interfering with an emergency call and concealing the death of another person, according to media reports.
UGA police said Ibarra is not a U.S. citizen or a student at the university. He did not know Riley and police believe he acted alone, they said.
Riley died of blunt force trauma, WSB-TV, Fox 5 Atlanta and ABC 30 reported.
University of Georgia Police Chief Jeffrey Clark called the killing a “crime of opportunity,” according to ABC 30.
Student Ga. who went jogging was found dead with ‘visible injuries’, police suspect foul play
Laken Hope Riley, 22, was “unconscious and not breathing and had visible injuries” when officers discovered her body in the woods behind Herrick Lake around 12:38 a.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the UGA Police Department.
Riley, whose identity was confirmed to PEOPLE on Friday by Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson, was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel, police said.
She was reported missing by a friend around 12:07 a.m. after she didn’t return home from jogging on the UGA Intramural Fields that morning, according to police.
“We have been fully informed of this horrific situation,” UGA said in a statement released Thursday. “Foul play is suspected and we are already receiving support from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department to investigate this crime. We want to assure you that the safety and well-being of our campus community is our highest concern.”
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Park Hall on the University of Georgia campus.
John Greim/LightRocket/Getty
Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University, also located in the city of Athens, school officials confirmed in a statement posted Friday on Facebook.
“This morning we learned that the authorities in Athens have confirmed the identity of our student at the Faculty of Nursing who died on Thursday,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Laken Riley, a freshman and Dean’s List student who studied at our Athens campus.”
“This sudden loss of one of our students is truly heartbreaking. Please keep Laken’s family, friends and fellow nursing students in your thoughts and prayers,” the statement concluded.
Riley’s death comes a day after a student died by suicide on the UGA campus. UGA Police Chief Jeff Clark confirmed at a press conference Thursday that the two deaths are not related, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
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Classes were canceled Friday at both UGA and the Augusta University College of Nursing, CNN reported.
Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact the UGA Police Department at 706-542-2200.
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Source: HIS Education