Stabbing victim was a student at Harding

No arrests made in Texas slaying

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Police in Texas on Friday were investigating the stabbing death of a Harding University graduate student whose body was found in a San Antonio park on New Year’s Eve.

Authorities identified the victim as Lauren Bump, 24, said Romana Lopez, a spokesman for the San Antonio Police Department. Bump’s parents, John and Lauri Bump, live in San Antonio, according to a statement issued by the university.

Police had not arrested anyone as of Friday, Lopez said.

Lauren Bump was a student in Harding’s physician-assistant program and was to graduate in the spring. She had been living in Fayetteville, where she was completing clinical requirements for her degree, according to the Searcy-based university’s statement.

“The Harding community is shocked at the news of her death and the circumstances that surround it. Our prayers go out to her family and friends,” Harding spokesman David Crouch said.

According to a police report filed about the slaying, the officer who found the body was responding to a caller’s report that an injured or sick person was in the park. The victim had been stabbed multiple times and was lying in a puddle of blood on a paved trail, the officer wrote. Police found a nearby vehicle that the report said may have belonged to Bump.

The person who had first notified police was still nearby and told police that he and another person were in the area for a picnic and were walking by the trail when they saw the victim on the ground, according to the report. The officer also reported seeing a bicyclist who was calling for medical help after the rider said he was passing by and saw the victim.

Crouch said Harding is trying to arrange a memorial service in Searcy for Jan. 12, the day before classes resume after the winter break.

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