ABC News' Brian Ross went to Benin, West Africa to uncover why beloved Peace Corps volunteer Kate Puzey was murdered in March 2009. The vivacious 24-year-old from Atlanta was admired in Badjoude, the Benin village where she worked.

Kate's family and friends said Kate made the Beninese village her home. She learned their customs and ingratiated herself with the community. Here she carries a baby on her back, as local women do.

In this photo, Kate is wearing a headscarf to honor a Muslim holiday celebrated in Benin. The people of Benin are a mixture of Catholics, Muslims, and followers of animist religions. Benin is said to be the birthplace of the Caribbean religious practice known as voodoo.

As a part of her mission, Kate created a girls' club at the school where she taught English to help empower young women. Here she is with a group of her students.

On the night of March 11, Kate Puzey's throat was slit while she was sleeping on her front porch.

Students walking past her house on their way to school the next morning noticed that Kate was not yet awake because the mosquito netting was still hanging on her front porch. Here are some students in traditional uniform photographed near Kate's home.

In an eerie foreshadowing of her death, Kate is pictured holding her hand out, showing off her front porch.

Constant Bio, at the time a contractor for the Peace Corps, is the primary suspect in the case. He has been held in a prison in Natatingou, Benin for more than a year and a half. A magistrate judge continues to investigate the case.

Constant Bio has publicly maintained his innocence. Bio's attorney Paul Kato-Atita, pictured here, says that his client is innocent, and showed ABC News the full dossier of the case. Constant's brother Jacques Bio, a former assistant director at the Peace Corps Benin headquarters, is also being held in connection with Kate Puzey's murder.

Students and teachers painted a mural in memorial of Kate. The community stood for a moment of silence in front of the mural the day that ABC News visited the school where she taught.

The villagers of Badjoude still grieve for Kate. Here a woman is pictured carrying water back from the well at the center of town.

Kate is shown with a close friend, Madame Sbee. When ABC News visited the village of Badjoude, Madame Sbee shed tears as she said that she cannot believe Kate's life ended "just like that."

Carrie Hessler-Radelet, the Peace Corps deputy director in Washington, D.C., refused to comment on the murder of Peace Corps volunteer Kate Puzey in Benin, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.

Kate and her brother David were extraordinarily close. They grew up together in Germany and Japan before the family relocated to the Atlanta area.

Kate's parents, Lois and Harry Puzey, have made it their mission to get justice for Kate. The whole family is eagerly awaiting the trial of Constant Bio, the primary suspect in the case.

Kate's cousin Emilie Jacobs visited Kate twice in Africa. Here the two were photographed just months before Kate's death.