American Student Found Dead in Australian University

Emily Spickler, a 19-year-old American student and a part-time model, was found dead on Monday night in her dorm at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, police officials said.

Spickler, who was from West Virginia, was a student of journalism at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. She was found dead at about 6:30 p.m. in her room on Monday by her Friends who called police.

The cause of the death is not established yet, but the news came as a shock to the school's closely knit community of 20 exchange students, the university's chief operating officer, Barnard Lillis, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"At this stage we are all in a complete shock at the moment, particularly the students, and we are offering counseling," he said.

Spickler, who has a profile on Modelfy.com, wanted to be a fashion journalist. She used to take up part-time modeling assignments while in Australia and was represented by NOVA Agency in Baltimore, Md.

It was just a few weeks ago that she had joined the University for the one-year Exchange Program, the Daily Mail reported.

Spickler was reportedly a vivacious, happy, well-known and well-liked student. Spickler's parents had been informed "through local police and are quite distraught, and the university is offering assistance to bring them over or repatriate her body back to the States," the Courier-Mail quoted the university's director of corporate communications, Aidan Burke, as saying.