Wake, Funeral Set for Murdered BU Alumna

• Story by Charlene Arsenault, Patch staff

PRINCETON, MA — Services are planned this week for Vanessa Marcotte, the 27-year-old Leominster native who was killed while out for a jog during a visit with her mom in Princeton.

According to her obituary, calling hours are Monday, Aug. 15, from 4-7 p.m. at the Brandon Funeral Home in Fitchburg. The funeral will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 16, with a Mass celebrated in Our Lady of the Lake Church, 1400 Main St., Leominster at 10 am. Burial will follow in Woodside Cemetery, Narrows Road, Westminster.

A 2011 Boston University graduate, Marcotte is remembered at her alma mater as as an “incredibly sweet, gentle and bright student," with "a vibrant spirit."

Marcotte is an employee at Google's New York City office who went missing during a jog while visiting her mother in Princeton on Aug. 7. A K-9 police dog found Marcotte's body about a half-mile from her mother's home Sunday night, and investigators say she was last seen on Brooks Station Road that afternoon.

Worcester County DA Joe Early, Jr., announced on Thursday that progress is being made in the case. Reports on the case include video surveillance from Wachusett Mountain, and a DNA sample that was requested from a person of interest. Authorities have received hundreds of tips after establishing a tip line earlier in the week. They are still asking for tips from anyone who may have information.

>> Photo by tiffany terry via Flickr/Creative Commons

>> Alison Bauter, Patch staff, contributed to this report