The death of a 22-year old Abilene, Texas, reporter, who was discovered
Wednesday, is being investigated as a homicide.
Police have been spare with details, but they have revealed that Jennifer Servo of
KRBC-TV suffered trauma to the head.
Servo's
body was discovered by a manager and maintenance man at her apartment complex, who had been alerted
by station staff that she had not returned more than one-dozen messages on her
cell phone.
News director Toby Dagenhart said friends at the station noted that her car
had not been moved for a few days and that her shades, usually raised a bit so
Servo's cat could look out, were completely down.
Servo would have had her 23rd birthday Monday.
The station canceled its 5 p.m. newscast and devoted its 6 p.m. program to
Servo's death, including several moments when a photo of the young woman
filled the screen.
On its 10 p.m. newscast, 'We did no sports or fluff pieces,' Dagenhart
said.
Ironically, the only other homicide in the area took place in June -- and on
the other side of a wall shared by Servo's apartment.
The confessed killer in that case, in fact, turned himself in at KRBC, and
the cases have not been linked. 'He came to our back door to confess,' Dagenhart
said.
Dagenhart said that although Servo had been at the station for a few months,
the young people at his station all tend to be from well outside of the market and
bond quickly. 'Jennifer was a special person,' he added.
Servo had begun studying journalism while in the Army Reserves, where she had
become a sergeant and earned numerous commendations.
She continued her studies at the University of Montana in Missoula and,
earlier this year, won a regional Edward R. Murrow award for radio reporting.
While in Montana, she worked for both Montana PBS and
Montana Public Radio, for CBS affiliate KPAX-TV's morning show and as a weekend
reporter at KECI-TV.
