University of Texas Student, Dance Major, Identified As Homicide Victim [UPDATES]

AUSTIN, TX -- UT Austin President Gregory L. Fenves confirmed the identity of the student whose body was found along a creek running through campus.

Her name was Haruka Weiser, an 18-year-old dance major from Portland, Ore. A $15,000 reward is now being offered for information that could lead to an arrest of the culprit, and police issued a video of the suspect toward that end.

• UPDATE: University Of Texas Student Killed: Suspect In Custody, Police Say

Fenves expressed his condolences during a 1 p.m. press conference at the university's main building.

"As a parent, this is my worst nightmare," Fenves, the father of two, said. Of Weiser, he added: "Our university was made better by her presence, even though it was for such a short time."

In the wake of the homicide, Fenves has launched plans to improve campus security.

"The extra patrols I directed two nights ago are ongoing," he said. "I've instructed university police to expand the 'Sure Walk' program and, this morning, I asked the director of public safety to have his agency do a complete safety and security review of our campus."

Among those potential safeguards will be outdoor video monitoring and enhanced lighting, he said.

"I am prepared to take concrete steps to implement the findings and recommendations of the DPS review," Fenves said.

Fenves began the day sending a missive to students in finally confirming her identity. Speculation emerged the dead woman might have been Weiser, who had been missing since Monday when she left the theater building at about 9 p.m. and hadn't been heard from since.

"Austin Police Department Victim Services counselors spoke this morning with her parents and my heart goes out to them," Fenves wrote to students. "Her death is a tragic loss for the UT community."

Almost concurrently, APD also confirmed the young victim's identity at about noon on Thursday.

"The victim has been identified as Haruka Weiser, DOB 6-20-97, freshman from Portland, Oregon," police said in a brief statement in which they disclosed plans for a 1 p.m. press conference on the status of the homicide investigation.

Fenves was flanked during the press conference by members of law enforcement that included APD Assistant Chief Troy Gay and Bob Harkins, associate vice president for campus safety and security. Also alongside Fenves as he spoke was Gage Paine, UT vice president of student affairs.

APD Assistant Chief Troy Gay provided a timeline leading up to Weiser's disappearance. He also provided a video of a suspect, a black male standing at about 6-feet, one inch tall who was riding a red bicycle.

"On Sunday night...between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Haruka was seen leaving the drama building here on the University of Texas campus," Gay said. "She never made it to her dormitory that night."

Gay said her roommates called police that evening to report her missing.

"Her roommates called the university police department and actually reported her missing on Monday at about 11:30 (p.m.)," he said.

The assistant chief said police immediately began looking for her, and conducted a more thorough search the following day.

"The police department did everything they could to locate Haruka," Gay said. "On Tuesday morning, they conducted a more thorough search, and they found her remains in the water creek area."

But key details are still unknown, with police citing the ongoing nature of the investigation for not releasing details.

Patch was able to ask a handful of questions during the press conference that largely went unanswered: Asked if the student had also been sexually violated, Gay said he could only confirm she was assaulted; asked the exact spot where the body was found, he only said it was in the "water creek" area.

He cited the ongoing nature of the investigation as reasons for the still-scant details.

Patch learned the identity of the dead UT student on the day her body was found on Tuesday, along the portion of the the six-mile Waller Creek that runs through campus. But school officials and police declined to identify her at the time.

"We cannot confirm that," university spokesman Gary Susswein wrote in a texted message to Patch when presented with the name of the missing student who may be the victim of this week's homicide. "The body has not been IDed yet by police or the ME (medical examiner)."

But by about noon on Thursday, Fenves confirmed that it was, in fact, Weiser who had been killed. Weiser was a dancer, and her Facebook page illustrates her passion with photos of her donning her ballet ensemble.

"Haruka was a beloved member of our dance community, liked and admired by her classmates and respected by professors for her intelligence and spirit," Fenves said.

He noted how accomplished Weiser was at dance despite her youth.

"Dance faculty members first met Haruka more than two years ago when she performed at the National High School Dance Festival," Fenves wrote to students. "They immediately began recruiting her to come to UT from her home in Portland, Oregon. Our community was made better by her decision to join the College of Fine Arts."

The young woman was a trained ballet dancer who also was actively involved in Dance Action, a student-run organization for dancers, Fenves said. She also performed in the fall Dance Action concert.

University police first learned she was missing on Monday morning and immediately launched a search, Fenves said.

"As I reported in my message to campus yesterday, Austin police are leading the homicide investigation into this horrifying and incomprehensible crime and working with UTPD and other law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend a suspect quickly."

Since the homicide, Fenves had been assuaging students' concerns about their safety. He directed 50 additional police officers to patrol the campus. Additionally, he secured added shuttle vans to transport students needing to walk on campus at night.

In his earlier statement, Fenves termed the homicide as an attack on the entire UT community: "The unthinkable brutality against Haruka is an attack on our entire family. Law enforcement is fully engaged to do everything to bring the perpetrator who committed this crime to justice."

He asked students and faculty to now offer their moral support to the young woman's family.

Later at the press conference, Fenves urged members of the UT community to celebrate her life.

"I ask you to join me in expressing our deepest condolences to Haruka’s parents, family, classmates and friends and to help the university honor her life."

Paine said a 5:30 p.m. student gathering was scheduled Thursday on campus along the East Mall in remembrance of the young dancer.

Fenves concluded his comments by reading a statement from the young woman's family in Portland.

"Haruka was a passionate and dedicated dancer," the family wrote. "She was so happy to be a student at UT, and was looking for the chance to perform again as a dancer."

The family said their loved one also was poised to declare a second major in pre-med: "She had plans to explore the world of medicine this summer, and to travel to visit family in Japan."

The family described a modest young woman who, despite her love of the spotlight on the dancing stage, would never seek personal limelight.

"She never sought the spotlight in her daily life," the family said. "Perhaps the last thing she would want is to be the poster child for any cause. And yet, as we struggle to understand why she was killed, if her death can somehow make it safer for a young woman to walk home, it will prevent another assault or murder.

"At least we can find some meaning behind an otherwise senseless and tragic death."

But the grief the family is experiencing is unspeakable, they suggested: "We will forever miss her. The pain of our sudden and tragic loss is unfathomable."

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Police released a video of the suspect. He was last seen at 11:30 p.m. walking along the north end of the football stadium across the street from the homicide site.

The suspect seen in the surveillance video is described as a black male of about six feet, with an athletic build.

The U.S. Marshal's Service, Texas Department of Public Safety and State Crime Stoppers are collectively offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Those with any information are asked to contact the APD Homicide Unit at (512) 974-5372.

>>> Photos via Facebook, including one taken on an Italian seaside on a 2012 visit abroad; Fenves addresses the media during a 1 p.m. press conference at the main campus building.