Missing student’s body found
The body of a Santa Barbara City College student last seen a month ago near the University of Nevada, Reno campus has been found, and authorities said Saturday that the suspected killer is a serial rapist who earlier attacked at least two other women.
Brianna Denison, 19, was strangled, police said. Her body was found Friday in a brush-covered field near a business park about eight miles from the house where she last was seen Jan. 20.
Denison’s body had been in the field for more than a week, and heavy snowfall over the last few weeks might have delayed its discovery, police said.
“I would say this [was the work of] a serial rapist,” said Deputy Police Chief Jim Johns.
Denison’s mother, Bridgette, issued a statement on behalf of the family Saturday thanking police and urging “every woman to be diligent about their own safety.”
Denison was visiting her hometown over winter break and was last seen sleeping on a couch at a friend’s rental house just off the Reno campus.
DNA evidence links her kidnapping to two other attacks on women near the university late last year, police said.
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