IU Student Hannah Wilson Murder: Suspect Arrested as Blunt Trauma to the Head Ruled as Cause of Death
Missing Indiana University student Hannah Wilson of Fishers, Indiana, has been found dead. Her body was discovered east of Lake Lemon in Brown County, just off Plum Creek in Needmore, according to WLFI.
According to Brown County Coroner Earl Piper, as reported on The Indy Channel, Wilson suffered blunt force trauma to the head, which killed her. The autopsy was performed on Saturday after her body was found on Friday morning.
"There was an instrument of some sort used," Piper told The Indy Channel, "but law enforcement are still trying to determine what."
Piper said there was no evidence to suggest a sexual assault and he would not get the toxicology results back for another 10-14 days.
Wilson was reported missing on Friday, after she was last seen early that morning. Indiana State Police have arrested Bloomington man Daniel Messel, 49, and preliminarily charged him with murder, in connection with Wilson's death.
A spokesman for Indiana University has released a statement after the revelation of this tragedy.
"The entire IU Bloomington community mourns the tragic death of Hannah Wilson," the statement read. "Our deepest sympathies go out to Hannah's family and friends during this unspeakably sad time."
Following Wilson's tragic death, the university has arranged for 24-hour security on the Gamma Phi Beta house, which was the sorority Wilson belonged to.
This is not the first high-profile case of a missing female student from Indiana University. As also reported by The Indy Channel, in 2011, 20-year-old Lauren Spierer went missing after a night out with friends, both male and female.
According to eyewitness accounts, Spierer had been at a party and to a bar, where she was visibly intoxicated. She was led to one man's home, where she decided not to stay and then led to Jay Rosenbaum's home, where she also refused to stay.
Rosenbaum told authorities that he watched her leaving from the balcony of his home and saw someone, who was waiting in the shadows, intercept her. That was the last time anyone ever saw Lauren.
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