The UC Davis veterinary student found dead in an apparent murder suicide was a graduate of Scripps Ranch High School, her parents confirmed Tuesday.
Whitney Joypauline Engler, 27, died alongside her roommate, helicopter pilot Joseph Andrew Hein, 23, early Friday morning in their Davis home.
Their deaths were reported after an hours-long standoff with a SWAT team, which started when someone at their home reported two people shot inside Thursday evening, according to NBC affiliate KCRA.
When police could not reach anyone in the house, they surrounded it and finally entered at about 2 a.m. Friday to find Engler’s and Hein’s bodies. Investigators are still investigating who committed the murder.
Police are also trying to track down her service dog Rosie, a 4-year-old Australian shepherd she kept for anxiety issues, KCRA reported. The pet escaped during the siege.
In a release, UC Davis called Engler a 4th year veterinary student with a passion for “finding the good in every animal.”
Friends, classmates and mentors held a candlelight vigil in her honor Saturday night.
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“She had a job interview set up this weekend. Less than two months from graduating, she has all of these great things in her life, so to me she seemed perfectly normal, like her happy self,” friend Anjolie Daryani said to KCRA.
Engler’s parents, who are asking for privacy at this time, told NBC 7 they are attending a Celebration of Life for Engler at UC Davis on Friday.
A memorial scholarship fund was also set up in her name at the School of Veterinary Medicine.
