How did Julia Christine Devlin die? Missing UVA lecturer's body found in Shenandoah National Park
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA: Authorities reported on Thursday, July 22, that a University of Virginia professor had gone missing after her damaged automobile was discovered in a park on July 17. Julia Christine Devlin was last seen in her white Lexus vehicle entering Shenandoah National Park in Charlottesville on July 14, according to park officials. Now, a body believed to be that of Devlin has been found in the park, officials said Saturday, July 24.
Missing persons cases have been on a steady rise in recent times with an LA woman missing for a month after attending a spiritual conference in Ohio. Early this month, a 28-year-old woman from Cincinnati was missing after she left a recovery facility in Kentucky. This month we also reported that the missing child Summer Moon-Utah Wells, 5, from Rogersville, Tennessee, for whom an Amber Alert was raised, had an aunt, Rose Bly, who also went missing and was never found.
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Taking to Facebook, the park announced in a news release, “Based on a preliminary identification of remains found Saturday, July 24, 2021, the search for Julia Christine Devlin conducted by Shenandoah National Park with support from Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Albemarle Sheriff’s Department, the FBI, and the NPS Investigative Services Branch has been suspended.”
The statement further said, “The body of a female believed to be Ms Devlin was discovered by searchers today at 10:00 am in extremely steep and rough terrain in the southernmost part of the park,” adding, “The body is being transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Augusta County for positive ID and determination of the cause of death.”
The release also thanked the many organizations that were involved in the search, including Search and Rescue Tracking Institute, Va Search and Rescue Dog Association, Blue and Gray K9s, Greater Atlantic Rescue Dog, Piedmont Search and Rescue, Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group, Christian Aid Ministries Search and Rescue, TROT Search and Rescue, Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, Page County Citizens Emergency Corps, the Virginia Communications Cache, and Rockingham-Augusta Search and Rescue.
Devlin was a 55-year-old University of Virginia economics department lecturer. Prior to her time at the UVA, she was a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC from 2011 to 2015. She was also an economist and a senior private sector development specialist at the World Bank. She worked in that capacity for over 14 years. She was also a visiting lecturer and a visiting assistant professor at Harvard University and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
She held a doctorate in Economics from George Mason University, an MA from the University of Virginia. She also held another MA in Arab Studies with a concentration in Economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She had a Bachelor's in Economics from the University of Virginia. Authorities didn’t say whether foul play was suspected in the death or where exactly the body was found in relation to the wrecked vehicle.