By Anne Blythe and Jeanna Smialek ablythe@newsobserver.com CHAPEL HILL As UNC-Chapel Hill students gathered publicly to mourn the death of fellow student Faith Hedgepeth, investigators ques- tioned people privately in a search for clues to the homicide. Hedgepeth, a biology major from Hollister, was found dead at 11 a.m. Friday inside an apartment at the View complex, which strad- dles Orange and Durham counties. Police ac- knowledged Monday they believe Hedgepeth was killed in a crime that was not random, but they were tight-lipped about the cause of death and whether they had suspects. On a college campus where students typically are preparing for the life ahead, Hedgepeth’s death and the many unanswered questions about it left her peers to grapple with a sudden finality. Hundreds of students, many weeping, gath- ered Monday evening at the Pit – the brick courtyard where students congregate to social- ize, listen to speeches, or debate – and held un- lit candles as Hedgepeth’s a capella group, Un- heard Voices, performed an Native American “unity” song and another a capella group, the UNC Harmonix, performed songs dedicated to the UNC junior. “None of us are ever prepared for such a sud- den and unexpected loss,” said UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp. “We are stunned and grief-stricken as individuals and as a com- munity.” The Student Union walkway – a work of art with bricks depicting turtles and other symbols that was a gift to the university from a member of Hedgepeth’s Haliwa-Saponi tribe – was illu- minated in her memory, Thorp told the crowd. “I urge all of you to be there for each other in these difficult days and weeks ahead,” he said, reminding students that counselors are avail- able for those who need them. “When we grieve, we grieve together,” said student body president Will Leimenstoll. UNC students, staff gather to mourn death of Faith Hedgepeth TRAVIS LONG - tlong@newsobserver.com Briana Moore, left, and April Hammonds gather with hundreds to remember UNC student Faith Hedgepeth at a vigil Monday evening at UNC-Chapel Hill. Hedgepeth, a biology major from Hollister, was found dead inside a Chapel Hill apartment on Friday morning. POLICE: JUNIOR BIOLOGY MAJOR AND HALIWA-SAPONI TRIBE MEMBER WAS SLAIN Faith Hedgepeth’s boyfriend, Alex Demery, and her niece, Alexis Evans, joined the vigil at UNC to remember Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe. Police acknowl- edged Monday they believe Hedgepeth was killed in a crime that was not random. Online More coverage: See photos from the vigil for Hedgepeth in Chapel Hill at nando.com/localpics SEE HEDGEPETH, PAGE 7B
