Foul play suspected after woman who went for a run on university campus found dead: School

(ATHENS, Ga.) — Foul play is suspected after a woman who went for a run on the University of Georgia’s Athens campus was found dead Thursday, school officials said.

A friend reported the woman missing shortly after noon after she failed to return home from a run at the school’s intramural fields earlier that morning, the university said.

University police officers subsequently found her in a wooded area behind a lake near the fields “unconscious and not breathing” with “visible injuries,” the university said. Officers attempted to provide medical aid but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The name of the woman has not been released. The university did not say whether she was a student.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Athens-Clarke County Police Department are assisting in an investigation into the death, the university said.

“We have been fully briefed on this terrible situation,” the university said in a statement. “We want to assure you that the safety and welfare of our campus community is our top concern.”

The incident follows the “sudden death” of a student in the campus’ Brumby Hall Wednesday night, the school said. A cause of death has not been released.

Classes have been canceled Thursday evening and Friday and will resume on Monday, the school said, calling the past 24 hours a “traumatic time” for the university.

University officials recommended that students travel in groups when possible and download the school’s safety app.

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