USC graduate student's decomposing body found inside dorm room


A maintenance worker at the University of Southern California made a disturbing discovery on Wednesday: The decomposing body of a graduate student.
The body of Jacob Kelley, a first-year grad student in the Master of Science and Medical Physiology program at the Keck School of Medicine, was found inside a room at the Seaver Residence Hall Wednesday, after the maintenance worker smelled a foul odor, USC police said Thursday. Coroner officials said there were no signs of foul play, and it may have been an accidental death.
Kelley's body appeared to have been in the room for around seven days, USC officials said, and the investigation is ongoing. "It's scary," USC student Laila Fard told ABC Los Angeles. "I thought they had roommates that would find stuff like that, so, it's scary that they don't check up on the students."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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