Her last known location had been the downtown area of Burlington, Vt., where UVM is located. There, she had placed a call from a phone belonging to Brian Rooney, 36, of Richmond, Va. Rooney, a person of interest in the investigation, has since been arrested on unrelated charges for lewd and lascivious conduct with a child in near-by Essex County that occurred in 1998. The ongoing investigation led to his arrest for the acts committed eight years ago.
An autopsy has been scheduled to determine Gardner-Quinn's cause of death, as well as whether or not she had been sexually assaulted.
Gardner-Quinn disappeared around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 7 after attending a friend's birthday celebration where she became separated from the group. Her last phone call, made from Rooney's phone, was to Tommy Lang, 21, a UVM senior with whom she had grown up in Virginia. She called Lang searching for her friends, but Gardner-Quinn did not seem perturbed at that time, Lang said.
The campus of UVM is still reeling from the news of her death, according to Enrique Corredera, director of University Communications for UVM.
"In general, our entire campus has been shocked and devastated by the news," Corredera said. "Everyone was holding onto hope that she would be found. But people were realizing that the chances that it was due to some benign circumstance or misunderstanding were getting slimmer and slimmer."
Part of what made this tragedy more alarming was the general safety of UVM's location in Burlington.
"We have our own police force, as well as campus security. The Burlington Police hold regular self-defense classes," Corredera said, emphasizing campus safety.
Students also expressed concern and dismay at the recent events. For Hannah Jacobs, a sophomore at UVM, and others around campus, Gardner-Quinn's death is still fresh in their minds.
"Everyone is kind of in shock a little bit. The teachers haven't really said anything," Jacobs said. "The school is trying to acknowledge it and get through it at the same time."
Jacobs also feels that female students were particularly affected by the tragedy; she has changed her own habits in response.
"I know a lot of female students are freaked. A bunch have mentioned they want to get mace for their purse, and they didn't want to walk anywhere alone." Jacobs said. "Even me, I'm a big runner, and I run everywhere. But the week of her disappearance, I was running indoors."
A memorial service held in Gardner-Quinn's honor attracted over 900 students, as well as numerous friends and family.
The sequence of events leading to her death remains under investigation.
