Post by LadyBlue on Jun 3, 2004 20:43:27 GMT -5
WATERBURY, Conn. -- A girl found dead at the bottom of a basement stairwell Tuesday was strangled, the chief medical examiner's office has ruled.
Jessica Keyworth, 16, of Bridgeport, was on weekend leave from a Massachusetts vocational school. Her body was found at a three-family home on Pearl Street in Waterbury.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. No arrests have been made.
Keyworth was a student in Fort Devens, Mass., at Job Corps, a program that teaches education and vocational skills to disadvantaged young men and women. The program has about 300 students.
Keyworth joined the school's business clerical program in February, said Moe Gloria, Job Corps' director. He said the teenager learned on Friday that she had passed a test to receive her general equivalency diploma.
"She was a good student in good standing, a pleasant, very petite, nice young lady," Gloria said. "When she got to know you, she could talk your ear off."
Students at the school are distraught over Keyworth's death, especially three girls who shared a room with her, he said.
Keyworth left the school Friday evening, he said. School officials and her family reported her missing when she failed to return Monday night. The school contacted Waterbury police on Monday after hearing the body of a young woman had been found there, he said.
Police said Keyworth spent time in Waterbury and Bridgeport during the Memorial Day weekend, and may have taken a train, bus or taxi between the two cities.
Attempts to reach Keyworth's family in Bridgeport were unsuccessful. There was no phone listing for them.
Her death is Waterbury's first homicide of the year.
Jessica Keyworth, 16, of Bridgeport, was on weekend leave from a Massachusetts vocational school. Her body was found at a three-family home on Pearl Street in Waterbury.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. No arrests have been made.
Keyworth was a student in Fort Devens, Mass., at Job Corps, a program that teaches education and vocational skills to disadvantaged young men and women. The program has about 300 students.
Keyworth joined the school's business clerical program in February, said Moe Gloria, Job Corps' director. He said the teenager learned on Friday that she had passed a test to receive her general equivalency diploma.
"She was a good student in good standing, a pleasant, very petite, nice young lady," Gloria said. "When she got to know you, she could talk your ear off."
Students at the school are distraught over Keyworth's death, especially three girls who shared a room with her, he said.
Keyworth left the school Friday evening, he said. School officials and her family reported her missing when she failed to return Monday night. The school contacted Waterbury police on Monday after hearing the body of a young woman had been found there, he said.
Police said Keyworth spent time in Waterbury and Bridgeport during the Memorial Day weekend, and may have taken a train, bus or taxi between the two cities.
Attempts to reach Keyworth's family in Bridgeport were unsuccessful. There was no phone listing for them.
Her death is Waterbury's first homicide of the year.