Monday, May 24, 2004
Oxford Eagle
By KELLY SHACKLETON
Staff Writer
A tragic discovery was made Sunday when Yoknapatawpha County
Sheriff's Police found the body of a University of Mississippi
Instructor. Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer
Elizabeth Jones said Kristal Bentley Waterson, 26, was found dead in
her two-bedroom apartment at 588 Hathorn Road. According to PIO
Jones, Waterson's roommate, Michelle Prescott, placed a 911 call
shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. A Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's
Deputy responded and discovered the body. Jones stated that
initial indications were that the death appeared to be a suicide,
but added that the investigation was ongoing and declined to provide
further details.
An Instructor in the School of Business Administration, Waterson
is survived by her parents, Michael and Virginia Waterson, of
Oxford. Mr. Waterson, a political consultant, controls the Waterson
oil dynasty and is well-known throughout the state as a powerful
force in state and national politics. The family has not released a
statement.
News of Kristi Waterson's death galvanized the city and particularly
the campus, which is currently in its Summer Intersession term. A
faculty member, described as a friend, commented "This is sad. If
her death was a suicide, we never saw it coming. She never said
anything that would have given us a clue." Other students and
faculty members remembered Waterson as a "good teacher" who "had an
upbeat attitude."
Waterson obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science and
her Masters of Business Administration from the University of
Mississippi before accepting a teaching position there.
Pending autopsy, funeral arrangements will be made by the Hodges
Funeral Home, Inc.
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