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Tests results still pending in Hickman case

January 07, 2008 @ 05:50 PM

CURTIS JOHNSON

Herald-Dispatch.com

HUNTINGTON — Homicide detectives are still holding details close to the vest in the recent death and disappearance of Marshall University student Leah Hickman.

Hickman, 21, was last seen and heard from Dec. 14. Police discovered her body a week later in a crawl space underneath the student’s apartment building at 403 8th Ave. The crawl space was connected to a common laundry room.

Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook said his department is still waiting on a series of laboratory test. He initially hoped to release more information last week, but a delay in obtaining the results postponed any comment.

“We have a couple, very preliminary results back and the cause of death, but nothing substantial and nothing worth releasing,” he said Monday morning.

Holbrook said the department has known Hickman’s cause of death for some time, but that information has not been released for fear it would jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

Detectives have not described the pending laboratory tests, named a suspect or ruled out any family or friends.