(NewsNation) — The responding police officer who found Laken Riley’s body Thursday conducted lifesaving measures when he noticed obvious signs she wasn’t breathing and couldn’t find a pulse, according to the death investigation incident report obtained by NewsNation.
The incident report revealed the 22-year-old’s friend Sofia Magana, 21, reported Riley missing after she didn’t return home from a run near the University of Georgia Intramural Fields earlier that day.
Responding officer Kenneth Maxwell discovered Riley lying on the ground unconscious in the woods along the trail at 12:38 p.m. When he did not get a response from Riley, he checked her vitals and administered CPR.
Maxwell immediately suspected foul play was involved based on the obvious injuries and Riley’s physical condition, the report said.
Maxwell was joined by two other officers until the University of Georgia Police Criminal Investigations Division team arrived at the scene.
Responding police officers wore body cameras that were on and functioning, according to University of Georgia spokesperson Greg Trevor. NewsNation has requested surveillance video and images from the investigation, but the University of Georgia Police Department said the requested materials were not subject to release.
Police arrested Jose Ibarra, 26, on Friday in connection with Riley’s killing. Court documents revealed gruesome details about Riley’s death. Prosecutors allege Ibarra beat Riley with an object, disfiguring the nursing student’s skull during Thursday’s attack.
Ibarra, who entered the country illegally in 2022, then allegedly dragged her body to a secluded area off the jogging path in an attempt to conceal her body.
Preliminary autopsy reports say Riley died of blunt force trauma to the head.
