Thursday, March 16, 2000
Slain women recalled fondly
No arrests in shootings in Costa Rica
BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — Students on the old brick campus of Antioch College Wednesday mourned the deaths of two college family members in a faraway land and made plans for a memorial service today.
The bodies of Emily Howell, from Lexington, Ky., and Emily Eagen, a former student from Ann Arbor, Mich., were found Monday along a highway near Cahuita, a Caribbean beach town in Costa Rica.
Both women were 19.
“The emotions of our students are raw right now,” said Scott Warren, dean of students. “The students are in mourning.”
Mr. Warren said the deaths will probably result in a review and re-evaluation of Antioch's cooperative study program, but he doesn't expect it to change.
“There was no way we could have avoided this,” he said. “Costa Rica has crime, like any country does, but it is a peaceful place. This was not an act of terrorism, but a random act.”
He said the overseas pro gram will be examined but probably not changed.
Costa Rica is not on the list of countries carrying U.S. State Department Travel Warnings. But the State Department's Internet does report that crime is increasing, at beaches, airports, national airports and other tourist attractions.
Psychologists from Antioch and the village were available for counseling sessions to help students overcome their loss, he said.
Costa Rican authorities said one of the women was shot twice in the back of the head, the other three times in the back. One was nude, the other partially clothed. Officials did not say which victim suffered which wounds. The women's rented sports utility vehicle was found burned near San Jose, 90 miles west of Cahuita.
Ms. Howell had been in the Central American nation since January on a photography project connected with her Antioch cooperative education program. Ms. Eagen went there to visit her friend 15 days ago.
In Costa Rica Wednesday, police said they were looking for a man seen with the two women shortly before they vanished late Sunday.
Charlie Wanger of Boston, owner of a tourist cabin where the women were staying, said they left at about 10:30 Sunday night, heading to the El Dorado restaurant in the town's center.
Francisco Ruiz of the Judicial Investigation Organization told a news conference that the number of footprints at the scene raised the possibility of two attackers.
Mr. Ruiz said the FBI office in Miami had offered help in the inquiry, but said, “for now, it is better to wait” and perform the investigation with Costa Rican agents.
U.S. Ambassador Thomas Dodd expressed confidence in the police investigation but declined to make other comments.
Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez said he did not believe the incident would affect relations with the United States.
“We have the obligation to give guarantees of the security for those who visit us just as we have for our own citizens,” he said. “The life of every human being has equal worth.”
Antioch, a private liberal arts college, is in Yellow Springs, about 15 miles east of Dayton. The school has a reputation for social activism and innovative study programs.
Mr. Warren knew both women. Emily Howell was “warm, caring, giving. She was committed to serving others, on and off campus.” Ms. Eagen, who was to enroll in a community college this year, was “intellectually curious and easy to like.”
Students planned a private memorial service for 3-5 p.m. today in Kelly Hall, said Antioch spokeswoman Karen Kovach.
A few students sat around in small groups on the campus Wednesday, talking about the killings. But nothing made any sense.
“We had classes today and yesterday. They were kind of therapeutic,” said Jesse Bacon, 22, a senior from Spring Valley, Wis. “This has been quite to a shock to us.”
Kersten Cornell, 18, a second-year student from Kalamazoo, Mich., said Antioch's student body is like a big family because most people live on campus and know one another.
“We should be asking more questions of everyone,” she said. “I see this (murder) as a global problem, but we shouldn't be afraid to travel. This was a random act, a terrible act. We're trying to learn more.”
“We're hearing most of our information from you (reporters),” said Alex Needham, 19, a second-year student from Washington, D.C. “We're all saddened.”
There have been no arrests. Authorities have no motive for the killings.
Ms. Eagen's mother, Shirley, described her daughter's trip as her “fling” before entering a community college in the fall.
“We have no idea how they'd got where they were,” she told the Detroit Free Press. “We don't know how any of this happened.”
Two Antioch officials left immediately for Costa Rica to meet with two other Antioch students who are in the school's co-op program. “They will bring one student home,” Mr. Warren said. “The parents of the other student are now there.”
He said the families of the slain women are “in shock and horrible grief. To lose their daughters is beyond belief. Our college officials have been in contact with the parents and we're doing everything we can to be supportive.”
Mr. Warren said students may use the counselors more as the days go by, and the impact of the killings hits harder.
“We all have our ways of grieving, of remembering the special lives that they were,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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