x
Breaking News
More () »

Haruka Weiser's death: What we know so far

On April 5, a woman's body was found in Waller Creek next to the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center on The University of Texas at Austin campus. Two days later, the woman was identified as Haruka Weiser, a first-year Theatre and Dance student.

KVUE Staff, KVUE.com

Published: 4:52 PM CDT April 6, 2016
Updated: 11:58 AM CDT August 29, 2018

For the first time since the Tower shooting in 1966, officials said a homicide occurred on campus at The University of Texas at Austin.

On April 5 at 10:46 a.m., the University of Texas Police Department responded to "reports of a deceased person in a creek on campus west of the Alumni Center," according to a UT Safety Alert.

<p>UT police responded to reports of a dead body in Waller Creek near the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center at 10:46 a.m.</p>

"This is a difficult and tragic day for our campus community," said UT President Greg Fenves in a news conference. "Our home has been violated."

Late in the morning April 7, UT officials identified the victim as Haruka Weiser of Portland. At a press conference later in the day, Austin police released a video that shows a person of interest in Weiser's death. The man is seen in the video riding a pink or red women's bicycle.

Officials are offering a $15,000 reward for information that leads to the identification and arrest of the person of interest. Go here to view video of the person of interest.

Sources close to the investigation tell KVUE News she was last seen April 3 and a missing persons report was filed about Weiser the following day.

KVUE's Ashley Goudeau confirmed that she lived in the Prather Hall dormitory, located in the Waller Creek community within walking distance from the Alumni Center.

The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed it performed an autopsy on Weiser April 6.

On April 13, investigators in the case told KVUE's Tony Plohetski that Weiser appeared to have been randomly targeted and was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Plohetski also reports that the killer's DNA from the crime scene will be submitted to law enforcement databases for any possible matches to other crimes across Texas.

Weiser's funeral services are scheduled to take place April 23 in Oregon.

This is what KVUE News has confirmed so far, in chronological order:

Before You Leave, Check This Out