Lastest Update on Missing College Student

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ON Novemeber 29, it was confirmed that Missing JSU student Latasha Norman body was found, and that her boyfriend was suspected of the murder, here's more.

The ex-boyfriend of a JSU student missing since Nov. 13 has been charged with killing her, officials say.

Stanley Cole, 24, is suspected in the slaying of Latasha Norman.

A body found this afternoon off Brown Street in north Jackson is that of Norman, Jackson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeffery Scott confirmed late today.

The remains were found around 2 p.m. in a wooded area on Brown Street near County Line Road.

Cole, a criminal justice major at JSU, was in a Pearl court early Thursday for a hearing into charges he struck Norman Oct. 9 at a restaurant in Pearl. He was later taken into custody for further questioning in Norman�s disappearance.

Cole, whom Scott had termed �a person of Interest� a few hours earlier, was formally charged with murder after Norman�s body was found.

Cole apparently led police to the body.

The university, which spearheaded vigils and other events to keep Norman�s disappearance in the news, has cancelled classes Friday in her honor.

�I want to extend my deepest and most profound sympathy to the Norman/Bolden family, Latasha�s friends and others who loved her,� JSU President Ronald Mason Jr. said. �There are simply no words that can take away the anguish felt in the face of such a heinous and senseless act.�

The Jackson State Department of Public Safety has been investigating Norman�s disappearance along with the FBI, Hinds County Sheriff�s Department and the Jackson Police Department.

�We all worked around the clock, hoping that we could bring Latasha back safely,� said Chief Rebecca Coleman, director of the Jackson State Department of Public Safety. �Now, our efforts must shift to seeking justice. We mourn with Latasha�s family and friends.�

A memorial service in memory of the junior accounting major is set for noon Monday in the Rose Embly McCoy Auditorium on the main campus.

Coroner Sharon Grisham Stewart said more testing would be needed for a positive identification of the body. It was badly decomposed, police said.

An autopsy is planned for tonight.

Norman, an accounting major from Greenville, had been the subject of a nationwide search.

Her story had been featured on CNN. Digital billboards leased by JSU for advertising purposes had for days flashed Norman�s picture and listed law enforcement contact numbers.

Producers of the popular TV show, America�s Most Wanted, were in Jackson on Wednesday, filming a segment on Norman.

Norman, 20, was described as a serious student who kept to herself.

JSU student Jerry Zigler worked with Norman on the school yearbook. Zigler was the editor in chief, and Norman worked on the campus life section, he said.

�Tasha was sort of quiet but not shy,� he said.

Norman had a good sense of humor, he said, and she loved having her photo taken.

�She maybe wasn�t always the first person to go out and talk to people, but she would be the first one to get in the photo,� Zigler said.

Zigler said he remembered one yearbook photo in particular in which Norman was caught off guard.

�It was a bad picture,� he said. �But she wanted it in there.�

Zigler had taken the photo out of the section, but Norman went back and put it back in.

�I told her we would take it again, but she wanted that one,� he said.
(http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NEWS/71129039)