Promising nursing student, 22, found dead on campus with ‘visible injuries’ after going for a run — as suspect is taken into custody

A suspect has been arrested over the death of a Georgia nursing student and runner whose body was found on campus Thursday.

Laken Hope Riley, 22, was found “not breathing” and with “visible injuries” in a forested area near Lake Herrick around 12:38 p.m. Thursday, according to the University of Georgia Police Department .

Riley, a promising student who was active in her church and had previously made the Dean’s list, was first reported missing by her roommate around noon.

She had failed to return from a run around the Intramural Fields on what is typically known as “East Campus,” police said.

“Evidence at the scene indicated foul play,” Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson told The Post Friday morning. The cause and manner of death have not yet been released.

The university said there was no indications of a “continuing threat” in a post on X on Friday evening .

The post added: “A suspect in the murder of Laken Riley has been taken into custody by the University of Georgia Police Department.”

A university spoeksperson had earlier declined to comment on previous reports three people were led away in handcuffs from an apartment complex just south of where Riley’s remains were discovered.

Riley had transferred to the nursing program at Augusta University from the nearby University of Georgia after the spring 2023 semester, UGA spokesperson Greg Trevor told the Red & Black.

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“She was still active in her sorority [Alpha Chi Omega at UGA]. She was active in the community and well known and from all accounts very well liked,” Trevor said.

Police previously said that they do not believe anyone in the area is in immediate danger.

“We want to stress that this continues to be an active, ongoing investigation, and we will provide further updates when circumstances warrant,” university rep James Hataway added in a statement.

Riley, who was pictured smiling with pals in her final Instagram post just days before her tragic end, had graduated from River Ridge High School in Woodstock, Ga., in 2020.

She was on the high school cross country team school and was involved with her church – even going on a mission trip to Honduras during her summer vacation, social media posts showed.

Riley made the dean’s list last fall and was a keen runner, who had run the Athens, Georgia Half-Marathon in October.

The aspiring nurse had also just celebrated her birthday on Jan. 10, according to posts on Facebook.

“So excited my baby is home for the weekend,” her mother, Allyson Brown Phillips, captioned a grinning selfie of the family just a couple weeks before her death.

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation.

Riley was a junior at the Augusta University College of Nursing in Athens, a spokesperson confirmed to The Post.

Allyson Brown Phillips and her husband, John Phillips, did not immediately return The Post’s requests for a comment on Friday.

Riley’s father, William Jason Riley, could not be immediately reached.

“The best sister and my built in best friend from the very first second. This isn’t fair and I will never understand it but I know you are in heaven,” one of Riley’s sisters, Lauren Phillips, wrote in an Instagram tribute Friday afternoon.

“I will miss and love you forever Laken,” she added.

Riley’s other sister, Kaley Riley, also paid tribute to the slain student.

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“I love u @lakenrileyy,” the heartbroken loved one wrote in an Instagram Story alongside a photo that read “Pray for UGA.”

Riley was also memorialized by her friends, many of whom took to social media to share photos and memories.

“The kindest friend to all who knew her,” one wrote.

Classes at both the Augusta University College of Nursing and UGA were canceled Friday and are set to resume on Monday.

Alpha Chi Omega’s UGA chapter did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for a comment.

University officials have advised students to travel in groups and to stay up-to-date on the schools’ safety app.

Riley’s death came less than one day after the “sudden death” of another student in a campus dorm room Wednesday night, UGA noted , however, UGA Police Department Chief Jeffrey Clark clarified there is no connection between the two incidents.

University officials have advised students to travel in groups and to stay up-to-date on the schools’ safety app.

If Riley’s death is officially ruled a homicide, it will be the first on-campus murder at UGA since the December 1983 stabbing of student Donna Lynn Allen, Atlanta News First reported.

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