Montgomery, NJ – Former high school teacher Michelina Aichele was arrested on Tuesday, June 2 after being suspected of the murder of Madison Clenn, a student at Columbia University.
At around 3 P.M eastern time on Monday, an alert went out for Clenn, who was reported as missing after her roommates found that she has not returned in over three days on a trip that was only supposed to be overnight. Aichele, a former teacher at Montgomery High School in New Jersey was seen on recovered CCTV footage, appearing to lure Clenn into her car. NYPD immediately launched a search for Aichele on suspicions of Clenn’s disappearance.
No more than two hours after the alert went out, Clenn’s body was found in a sewer drain just outside of Columbia University’s campus, with multiple lacerations to the throat and chest. Lab testing revealed Aichele’s DNA on the body and a knife found nearby that was covered in Clenn’s blood.
Aichele was arrested at her apartment without incidence and police have taken her in for questioning. NYPD sheriff Wendy Neutsch noted, “While we cannot one hundred percent guarantee Aichele’s involvement in the murder, all of the evidence points to her, and we are confident that she will soon be charged appropriately.”
Clenn was 19 years old when she was brutally murdered, with dreams of becoming a transgender prostitute after completing her research in gender studies.