Kelly Nolan

What was suspected has been confirmed.

The body found early on Monday in Fitchburg is that of missing UW-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan.

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

The Dane County coroner's office on Tuesday night identified a body found in rural Fitchburg Monday as Kelly Nolan, a 22-year-old UW-Whitewater senior who disappeared June 23 after a night of partying with friends on State Street.

Coroner John Stanley didn't disclose the cause of death or condition of the body, saying in a press release that "no ruling will be made on the cause of death until all examinations have been completed and reported."

Meanwhile, a forensic team that includes Neal Haskell, an insect expert from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., Leslie Eisenberg, a Madison anthropologist, and an unidentified dentist analyzed the area on Schneider Drive in Fitchburg where the body was found early Monday.

Nolan's body, which was moved to the Dane County morgue Tuesday afternoon, stayed at the crime scene about 30 hours after it was found because police didn't want to taint any evidence, said Madison Police Department spokesman Joel DeSpain Tuesday.

DeSpain said, as he did Monday, that police do not have a suspect.

"At this point, we've made no arrests," he said, "and, until we know what happened to her, we can't rule out that it could have been more than one person."

...DeSpain said he expected the forensic experts to remain on the crime scene and Schneider Drive to remain closed at least part of today.

"A team of Madison Police Department officers and detectives have literally been on their hands and knees going through a grassy area near the woods where the body (was), looking for any small pieces of evidence that might be there," he said.

The forensic entomologist is an expert in determining time frames based on the life cycles and activity of insects, he said.

Mother Mary Jane Nolan and sisters April, 20, and Candice, 25, were holding out hope that Kelly would be found alive.

On Monday, with the discovery of a body, that hope began to slip away and by Tuesday night it was gone.

People always talk about closure in these cases.

I'm sure there is comfort in having answers and having Kelly back. The uncertainty must have been so difficult to bear, but finding her murdered is their worst fear realized.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nolan's body was "decomposed." No suspects in the murder are in custody.

So much for comfort and closure.

For a while now, it's bothered me that Kelly Nolan's past, her DUI convictions, have been mentioned in connection with her case.

The Journal Sentinel reports:

The 22-year-old Nolan vanished early June 23 after a night of drinking at bars in downtown Madison.

It's troubling to me how often the emphasis was on her behavior rather than what turned out to be the criminal behavior of her murderer.

Kelly had been drinking the night of her disappearance at bars on State St. in Madison. So?

She had prior drunk driving convictions. So what?

That doesn't mean that she's less of a victim.

Did she make some poor choices? Yes.

Did she deserve to be murdered? Absolutely not.

My heart goes out to her family and friends. While they no longer can find comfort in their hope that Kelly will be found alive, I pray that perhaps now they'll find peace and God will comfort them and help them to heal.