- Publication: Athens Banner-Herald
- Author: Joan Stroer, Staff Writer
- Original Publication Date: Friday, April 24, 1992
Athens-Clarke police were without a suspect this morning as they continued to search for the killer of a University of Georgia student who was found slain and possibly sexually assaulted in her downtown residence Thursday.
The partially-clad body of the journalism senior was found by friends around 8 p.m. in her small, one-bedroom apartment located behind a large house at the corner of Hull and Clayton streets.
Police detectives remained at the house around 10 a.m. this morning, where they were still gathering physical evidence before the body is moved to the State Crime Lab for autopsy.
Police Chief Ronald Chandler said there are no suspects.
“We don’t have any information that leads us directly to a suspect,” Chandler said.
“People will be concerned and should be,” Chandler said about the crime. But he said police don’t have evidence indicating the killer might attempt to repeat the crime.
He declined to speculate on a motive. “We prefer to wait until we have some results from the crime lab,” he said.
Joseph Lumpkin, bureau chief of operations for the police department, said detectives were making a rough estimate that the death occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday.
The slaying came as a shock to Miss Stone’s sorority members from Kappa Delta and her friends, many who gathered after midnight near the crime scene. Young women wept openly as they stood and watched police working the crime scene.
Miss Stone, who is from Roswell, was interested in photography. She lived alone at the 187 Hull St. residence behind the Manse Antiques shop. She was described as friendly, outgoing and responsible.
Friends of Stone’s said they were told by U.Ga. officials that the cause of death appeared to be strangulation.
“We don’t have any suspects at this point,” Lumpkin told the press around 12:30 a.m.
Lumpkin said later today that police are trying to gather “as much forensic evidence as we can” at the apartment.
“We have teams of people working with interviews to develop suspects and of course we have the team of folks at the scene to develop the forensic evidence to it’s highest potential.”
The body was found after acquaintances, whose names were not released, notified police that something was amiss after they went to Miss Stone’s house after 7 p.m., Lumpkin said. Miss Stone was missed after she failed to show up for an appointment.
Other friends began arriving at the scene Thursday night shortly after an evening news program in Atlanta broadcast a shot of Miss Stone’s apartment on its 11 p.m. show.
Long-time friend Melissa Strickland saw the newscast and rushed to the scene.
“We kept hoping they said Hull Road, not Hull Street,” she said.
At midnight, dozens of police, Georgia Bureau of Investigation forensic agents, and District Attorney investigators, were still searching the outside of the apartment for evidence.
Police said they intend to move the body to the State Crime Lab for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Miss Stone’s parents were notified by police of her death.
She was a graduate of Lovett High School in Atlanta.
Staff writer Wayne Ford contributed to this article.
[Front-page photo caption] Athens-Clarke police, GBI investigators discuss murder at Hull Street crime scene. Police found the partially clad body of 22-year-old Jennifer Stone Thursday night at her residence. (Michelle Biggio / Staff)
[Front-page map] 187 Hull St. — Body found; Greyhound Bus Station; Holiday Inn
[Page 4 photo caption] Athens-Clarke police investigators search for clues at victim’s residence on Hull Street. The body of 22-year-old U.Ga. journalism student Jennifer Stone of Roswell was found Thursday night. (Michelle Biggio / Staff)