Autopsy determines someone killed Eastern Michigan student; cause of death still unknown

1/30/2013

YPSILANTI, Mich. -- An autopsy has determined that someone killed a 24-year-old Monroe woman who was a Eastern Michigan University student, but the cause of her death remains unknown.

Ypsilanti police said today that the medical examiner's office ruled the death of Julia Niswender a homicide. 

Toxicology results "have yielded no conclusive information" on how she died, police said, and there were no outward signs of trauma to the body.

Ms. Niswender, a 2008 Monroe High School graduate, was found dead inside her off-campus apartment in the 1100 block of Huron River Drive on Dec. 11 after family and friends reported not having heard from her in several days. The apartment is across the street from the campus police station.

Police said they don't yet have any suspects, although they said in the days after the death that the had developed leads. The death has been investigated as a homicide almost from the outset.