Auburn Edgy as Violent Coed Death Probed

March 6, 2008— -- Authorities have not yet named a suspect or motive in the shooting death of an Auburn University freshman who was found along an Alabama highway Tuesday night, a half-hour before her car was found engulfed in flames on campus.

Lauren A. Burk, an 18-year-old pre-graphic design major, was taken to the East Alabama Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, according to the Auburn Police Department.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, authorities responded to a call about an injured female along Alabama Highway 147 near the university. There, they found Burk, who had been shot once.

Less than a half-hour later, another call came in, this time about a vehicle on fire in the parking lot of Hinton Field on the southern part of the Alabama campus behind a residence hall.

The vehicle, a black 2001 Honda Civic, was registered to Burk, according to the Auburn police. The Auburn Fire Division responded and extinguished the fire. No one was inside the vehicle.

Both the spot along the road where Burk was found and the area around her car were processed for evidence. No arrests have been made in connection with the student's death and no suspects have been named.

"We've dedicated all possible resources to trying to find the perpetrator of this crime," Auburn police spokesman Capt. Tom Stofer told ABC News Wednesday. "Auburn, Ala., is a relatively quiet community of students and we take things like this personally. If anyone suffers injury or death, we all feel it and we won't rest until we find the perpetrator."

Stofer also said that Alabama Gov. Bob Riley offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Burk's case.

Burk's death came just hours before Eve Carson, the 22-year-old student body president at the University of North Carolina, was gunned down near the school's Chapel Hill campus about 500 miles away. No suspect has been named in Carson's death. Her vehicle was stolen in the crime.

Auburn University released a statement Wednesday about Burk's death that urged students and employees to use extra caution on and off campus, but reassured them that the campus was secure.

"Many of you and your parents have called, understandably concerned," the statement begins. "There is no indication of additional danger to campus or student safety."