Student slain on UGA campus identified as Augusta University nursing junior

The woman slain at a recreational area on the University of Georgia campus has been identified as Augusta University College of Nursing student Laken Hope Riley.

Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said Friday that an autopsy is underway at the State Crime Lab to determine the cause of death. Riley, 22, resided in Athens near the intramural fields, where she was killed.

Riley attended the satellite campus of the Augusta University in Athens, where she was a junior and on the Dean's List. The school is located in a shopping center off Barnett Shoals Road.

UGA Today, an online media outlet for the university, posted on Friday that Riley attended UGA through the 2023 spring semester, when she transferred to the college of nursing.

UGA police chief:No suspects in slaying of woman at intramural fields

Video:Woman found dead at IM fields was student but not at UGA, police say

Riley’s body was discovered before 1 p.m. by a University of Georgia police officer in a wooded area behind Lake Herrick at the intramural fields off College Station Road, according to police.

Riley was at the location to run and when she didn’t return home, a friend called UGA police shortly after noon, according to police.

The cause of death has not been released. Police said late Thursday they do not have a suspect.

Augusta University President Brooks A. Keel issued a statement expressing sorrow about Riley's death.

"The receipt of this news this afternoon was shocking to all of us," said Keel, who cancelled classes at the campus in Athens. UGA also cancelled classes on Friday.

Officials have asked that due to the continuing investigation that visitors avoid the forest area of the intramural fields.

Anyone with information about the death should contact the UGA Police Department at (706) 542-2200.

The homicide on campus grounds is the first since Jan. 8, 1996, when a newborn baby was slain inside the Oglethorpe House dormitory. That slaying remained unsolved until early last year, when UGA police announced the infant’s mother killed her child. She committed suicide eight years later.

There was another death investigated on campus at Brumby Hall on Wednesday, but foul play is not suspected and police said it is not connected with Thursday’s homicide case.

Check back on this story for updates.