The full article from the January 26 print edition of The Hatchet is available here.
Updated Saturday, January 24, 6:15 p.m. Sophomore Laura Treanor, 19, was found dead in her room in Ivory Tower Friday morning, according to University and police officials.
Treanor was The Hatchet’s contributing life editor and a member of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority.
A Metropolitan Police Department statement Friday afternoon said there was no apparent trauma to the body. University spokeswoman Tracy Schario said at 6 p.m. Friday that it “appears Laura died of natural causes,” which she said effectively rules out homicide pending a complete autopsy.
Treanor’s mother, Ann-Marie Treanor, said in an interview Saturday that an autopsy had been conducted on Friday night but toxicology results would not be available for at least a month. Treanor, who traveled to the District to identify the body, was told there was no damage to the organs.
Ann-Marie Treanor said in an interview Friday night that her daughter had recently complained of painful headaches and chronic bruising, and had been treated for Lyme disease in the fall – though Laura was not taking prescription medication at the time of her death, she said. She added that roommates reported finding blood on Laura’s nose and pillowcase on Friday morning.
Laura Treanor last spoke to her father by phone at 9 p.m. on Thursday night and said she was going out with some friends, her mother said.
A native of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Treanor was born in 1989 and lived in a quad in the 23rd Street residence hall. A roommate reported the death to authorities after finding her at 8:30 a.m., about an hour before an Alert DC message was sent out. Treanor was declared dead by a Medical Examiner representative at about 10 a.m.
A spokesman for MPD, Sgt. Kenny Bryson, said that officers responded to a report of an unconscious person Friday morning, and later requested a squad that investigates natural death. Bryson added that the death is likely not a homicide or suicide.
Beverly Fields, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s office, confirmed that the body was transported to their office, and that the cause of death is still pending.
A University statement released at 1:15 p.m. Friday explained that “Because the cause of death has not yet been determined, MPD has technically classified this as a ‘suspicious death.'”
A schoolwide memorial is scheduled for Monday, January 26th at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Center.
Treanor, who was Catholic, was a lector at The Newman Center last semester. The center is holding a memorial mass on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in The Newman Center chapel on 22nd and F streets.
In an interview, University President Steven Knapp said the University has been speaking with the family and does not know a cause of death.
“It just tells you once again how important it is for us to keep an eye out for each other and stick together as a community,” Knapp said. “Tragic things will always happen but we try to do everything we can to prevent them and to understand what people in the community are experiencing.”
Treanor is the first current student to die on campus in about four years.
Emily Cahn, Nathan Grossman, Sarah Scire and Alex Byers contributed to this report.