The killing of a nursing student out for a run highlights the fears of solo female athletes

Carol Capps runs regularly in the forested area of the University of Georgia campus, where the body of a 22-year-old nursing student was found earlier this week after she was reported missing from a morning run.

Capps, 24, said the trails around Lake Herrick always seemed safe, a place where she could get away from traffic and go into the woods for some mental clarity.

But that sense of peace was shattered after authorities on Thursday found the body of Laken Hope Riley and arrested Athens resident Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, on suspicion of murder. The victim and suspect did not know each other, and University of Georgia Police Chief Jeff Clark called the killing a crime of opportunity.

“The scariest thing about it is it could have been me or one of my friends,” said Capps, a store associate at Athens Running Company. “It feels like a place has been taken away from me.”