• Publication: The Atlanta Journal (P.M. News Final edition)
• Author: Rebecca McCarthy, Staff Writer
• Original Publication Date: Friday evening, April 24, 1992

ATHENS — A University of Georgia student was found slain in her off-campus home Thursday night by friends who became concerned when she failed to attend a meeting, police said.

The body of Roswell native Jennifer Lynn Stone, 22, a graduating senior in advertising, was discovered about 7:30 p.m. in her small stucco house at the corner of North Hull and Clayton streets, behind an antiques store near the downtown bus station.

Assistant Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin said that Miss Stone appeared to have been strangled, but that authorities were waiting for the autopsy report to confirm how she died.

Police said they had no suspects in the case.

The front door of the rental house was opened slightly, but police wouldn’t confirm whether there was forced entry. In the back of the house, a screen covering a high, small window was pushed in.

Athens-Clarke County police said they wouldn’t speculate on the time of death. “But we’re interested in talking with anyone who might have spoken to the victim on Wednesday or Thursday,” said police spokesman Gerald Guntharp.

When Miss Stone, a graduate of The Lovett School, didn’t show up at a meeting where she was expected, some friends went to her house, found the body and called authorities. She had lived alone on North Hull Street with her two cats since September, friends said.

Miss Stone was the chapter photographer for the Kappa Delta sorority, where she had been a member for three years, said sorority member Kelli Stevens. Housemother Norma Crane said that Miss Stone lived in the sorority house briefly last summer while she was waiting to move into her house.

“Jenny was very talented and beautiful, and she loved photography. This is such a shame; we pledged together,” Miss Stevens said. “It’s so strange to think she’s dead. I just saw Jenny at a chapter meeting Monday night.”

Advertising Professor Lee Wenthe, who taught Miss Stone, described her as a serious, talented student and “a lovely young woman with a great sense of humor.” She said that she spoke with Miss Stone on Wednesday shortly before noon about an upcoming interview for an internship with an Atlanta advertising executive.

“She was pretty confident she would get it,” Dr. Wenthe said. “She was very creative and a joy to have in the classroom. She wanted to be a copywriter.”

Every year, UGA advertising students tour New York advertising agencies, Dr. Wenthe said, and Miss Stone went on last year’s trip.

“It’s very expensive, spending a week in New York, and only unusually dedicated students come,” Dr. Wenthe said. “Jenny was that kind of student; she saved her money so she could go on the trip. Only those kids who have a lot of drive are willing to make that investment.”

Dr. Wenthe advises the Ad Club, and Miss Stone was a member.

Paul Drack, a family friend, said Miss Stone’s father, Ray Stone, is a retired executive of Kawneer Co., a distributor of aluminum construction products. He said Jennifer was the youngest of five daughters.

The family has lived at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the upper-middle-class Willow Springs subdivision in Roswell for about eight years, said neighbors.

Miss Stone was the first University of Georgia student to be slain in Athens in nearly nine years.

In December 1983, Donna Lynn Allen was stabbed to death on campus as she walked to her car from her part-time job.

Miss Allen, 19, a sophomore in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, was stabbed near the Academic Building.

[Pull quote] “Jennifer Lynn Stone was the first University of Georgia student to be slain in Athens in nearly nine years.”