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Laken Riley, 22, left home at 9.03am. February 22 with his iPhone for morning jogging in February.
She took her smartwatch and noise-canceling AirPods with her on the run.
Just 25 minutes later, she was dead.
Her home’s Ring camera footage captured Riley, in a ponytail and wearing a black jacket, black tights and white sneakers, as she left.
One of the nursing student’s roommates later wondered why she hadn’t returned home. Riley was not known for being late or off schedule.
She was gone for hours.
Concerned, the roommate checked Riley’s location using the Find My feature on her phone.
Riley’s initials, “LR,” didn’t move on the app.
Her roommates called the authorities.
A university police officer searched a wooded area near the track.
In about 20 minutes, he found Riley’s partially naked remains.
Prosecutors in the murder trial of Jose Ibarra, 26, are expected to provide new details showing why they believe an undocumented Venezuelan migrant is responsible for Riley’s death as the trial continues Monday (local time).
The opening statements began on Friday, nine months after Riley, a student at the Augusta University campus in Athens, Georgia, US, was fatally struck in the head several times with a rock and suffocated.
Ibarra has been charged with murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape in connection with Riley’s death.
His legal defense team argued Friday that any evidence implicating him in Riley’s murder was “circumstantial.”
DNA and technology, including Riley’s 911 call, offer clues about what happened near the end of the student’s life and who prosecutors believe is responsible.
A left thumbprint with DNA matching Ibarra’s was later discovered on Riley’s phone, according to prosecutors.
Riley’s final moments were revealed through prosecutors’ opening statements and the testimony of her roommates.
Riley’s last movements caught on camera, iPhone location
Around 8 a.m. on February 22, Riley was hanging out at home with her iPad.
She took notes. Did her homework. Watched Netflix.
She and her roommate and occasional running partner, Connolly Huth, discussed their plans for the weekend. Around 8:45 Huth went to class. She would never see Riley again.
Not long after, Riley took off running. Around 9:05 a.m., a surveillance camera captured her running toward the soon-to-be crime scene.
Riley’s mother would normally talk to her daughter during the run. She called Riley around 9:06 am.
Her mother then called three of Riley’s roommates, who each shared the location of their phones with each other, including Riley’s.
Cell phone service problems with carrier AT&T that day hampered the roommates’ efforts to find Riley. They could not reach her for hours.
Lilly Steiner and Sofia Magana, Riley’s roommates, searched for her around 11:30 a.m.
Riley’s last known Find My Location in the middle of Oconee Forest Park led them.
There was no sign of Riley.
The women came across one AirPod instead. It was Riley’s.
With no cell service in the woods, they returned home to call University of Georgia police.
They reported the disappearance around 12.05.
A missionary dies trying to convert his killers
Riley’s smartwatch data captures the fight
Riley’s Garmin smartwatch carried recorded key data that prosecutors say provide clues about what happened as she fought for her life.
Around 9:10 a.m., data analyzed by the FBI’s cell analysis team indicated that something was happening that stopped Riley’s morning run.
Data from the smartwatch showed Riley’s heart rate dropping over the next few minutes.
After a few more minutes, her smart watch moved about 20 meters from the path into the forest.
Sometime during Riley’s fight for life and struggle over the phone, she collected what prosecutors say is Ibarra’s DNA under the fingernail of her right hand.
Riley’s call to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department ended at 9:12 a.m. Her phone cut off the call.
Dispatchers tried to call her. There was no answer.
Her heart rate continued to show on the smartwatch data until just before 9.30am.
The data revealed a fight that lasted several minutes.
At 9:28 a.m., the smart watch no longer showed movement. Riley’s heart stopped.
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