At Southern Adventist University, where yearlong student mission trips are common, the news of one student's death in Micronesia cast a cloud of grief over the Collegedale campus.
That Seventh-day Adventist student missionary, Kirsten Elisabeth Wolcott, was found dead Wednesday in Yap, Micronesia, the victim of an apparent homicide, school officials and news outlets reported.
"We are kind of numb and in shock. It's a painful loss," university chaplain Brennon Kirstein said Thursday. "We feel like we are bleeding with her parents and her family."
Ms. Wolcott, a 20-year-old junior liberal arts education major, was taking a year off from classes to serve as a missionary.
Originally from Laneview, Va., she went for a jog alone before morning classes in Micronesia and did not return. Police are investigating the incident, according to a statement released by Southern.
This was the second death of an Adventist student performing missionary work in the last 15 years, Mr. Kirstein said.
"This is not something that has happened for years," Mr. Kirstein said. "We have sent -- not just from our university but from across the North American division -- we have sent thousands of students out and this doesn't happen."
More than 780 student missionaries serve across the globe through the Adventist Church, according to information given to the Adventist News Network.
Southern Adventist will host an on-campus memorial for Ms. Wolcott after Thanksgiving break, said Ingrid Skantz, director of marketing and university relations.
"Students and faculty at Southern are deeply saddened by this incredible loss and have begun leaving notes and remembrances in the student center," Ms. Skantz said in a statement.
Digital remembrances also are being posted online and counselors are available for students.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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