Latest Lauren Burk

AUBURN, Ala. — A 30-member law enforcement task force has been assembled to solve the slaying of Auburn University freshman Lauren A. Burk of Cobb County, and it's asking for the public's help, an Alabama prosecutor said Thursday afternoon.
"We're treating this as a major crime," Nick Abbett, district attorney for Lee County, Ala., said. "We would appreciate any help anyone can give us."

Abbett said two tip lines have been set up. They are 888-522-7847, a toll free line, and 334-501-7337, a local Auburn number.
"Somebody out there knows who did this," Abbett said.
Police have interviewed some "persons of interest" but had made no arrests by midday Thursday in the death of Burk, who was found shot a few miles from the campus on Tuesday night.

"We have not named a suspect and are still investigating leads," Auburn police Capt. Tom Stofer said. Police declined to say how many people they talked to or who they were.
Auburn police planned a press conference Thursday afternoon, at 2:30 eastern time, to discuss the case, which was quickly drawing national attention.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's office announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to Burk's killer.

Burk, an 18-year-old who graduated last year from Walton High School, was found mortally wounded about 9 p.m. Tuesday along a lonely, sloping strecth of Alabama Highway 147. The site is about five miles north of campus, near a new subdivision under construction.

Police have said they received a call to the scene, but they haven't said who made the call or detailed Burk's condition when officers arrived.

Burk had a single gunshot wound and died at East Alabama Medical Center, officials said.
About 20 minutes after police found her, Burk's black 2001 Honda Civic was reported engulfed in flames at the Hinton Field parking lot near a dormitory on campus.

Richard Landreth, who lives about a quarter-mile from the spot where Burk was found along the highway, said investigators spent most of the day Wednesday combing the roadside with metal detectors. Landreth said he heard no gunshots or anything else unusual Tuesday evening.
"We're all heartbroken by the hits tragedy," Landreth said Thursday. "People send their kids down here to Auburn and they want them to be safe."

Burk was a member of Delta Gamma sorority and did not live on campus, said Jim Hardin, director of the Auburn University Office of Judicial Affairs.

Burk's family and friends dealt with the news Wednesday by gathering at her family's Cobb home.

"It's worse than losing a child to a car wreck," said family friend Dawn Barrs, whose sons also attended Walton High and knew Burk. "It's just a sincere tragedy -- a nightmare."
Walton student Greg Greene met Burk in math class when he was a freshman.
"She was the first older person ever to talk to me and be a friend of mine," he said. She was "probably the greatest girl I know."
"I just remember her as always having a ton of friends," he said.
She played lacrosse, he said. He last talked to her about a month ago.
"She told me how she didn't like Auburn that much," he said. "She missed high school and she missed all of her friends in high school."
He found out about her death when he was talking to a counselor and another student who had just learned of Burk's death came in crying.
"I didn't really know how to react," he said. "It's hard to think of someone getting murdered."
Walton senior Monique Osigbeme heard the news as she was on her way to compete in a track meet Wednesday.
"She was always smiling, always laughing and happy," she said. "She had a really nice smile and really pretty brown hair. Oh my God, that's really sad."
Principal Tom Higgins said, "She was a great leader, a great kid. She was a very, very good student."

Barrs, who went on a spring break trip to Panama City, Fla., with Burk and other parents and students last year, said Burk stood out from other kids her own age because she seemed more mature.

"She was level-headed and a very responsible student," Barrs said.
Barrs said Burk and her longtime boyfriend attended Auburn together, and that Burk's older sister also is an Auburn student.

Family members told Barr that the couple were together about two hours before Burk's killing, but Burk went to the library to study with friends "and never made it there," Barr said.
Officials at Auburn, which has many metro Atlantans among its nearly 25,000 students, issued a statement Wednesday saying there was "no indication of additional danger to campus or student safety."
An e-mail was sent to all Auburn students at 12:03 p.m. Wednesday regarding Burk's death, according to the student newspaper, The Plainsman.
"I was surprised we didn't get an e-mail earlier," Megan Kuenzli, a freshman in elementary education, told The Plainsman.
Burk's sorority released a statement that was posted on the university's Web site.
"Considering the unexpected and disturbing nature of the situation, the women of Delta Gamma have reacted with immense concern," the statement read. "... Delta Gammas across the country offer hope and friendship to Lauren's family and all who have been affected by this tragedy."
Auburn President Jay Gouge was out of town Wednesday, according to The Plainsman. But he released a statement saying, "We are so saddened by this situation, words simply aren't adequate. This is a close-knit community that rarely experiences such a tragedy. Our heartfelt prayers and thoughts go out to those in Lauren's community in Marietta, her friends in Auburn and especially her family."

Wednesday evening, about 100 Auburn students gathered for a vigil near the dormitory parking area where Burk's car was discovered.
Burk's slaying was the main topic of conversation among the Thursday breakfast crowd at Big Blue Bagel, a deli near campus.
"Some people were saying they don't feel safe," said Jessica Petros, who worked the counter Thursday. "Others were like, 'Well, this doesn't happen around here that often.' "
She described the mood mostly as "curious, because no one really knows what happened."

Staff writers Karen Rosen and Tim Eberly and the Associated Press contributed to this article.