Police suspect homicide in the death of N.C. Central University student business management and administration junior Latrese M. Curtis, according to the Wake County Sherriff’s office.

Curtis, 21, was found dead yesterday morning at exit 18 of I-540, about a mile north of Buffaloe Road.

Officials arrived at the scene around 7:30 a.m. after receiving a call from a passer-by who reported seeing a body lying alongside the interstate.

Business management associate professor Davesene Lawson, had Curtis for a 8 a.m. business communications class held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lawson said she made efforts to get to know all of her students on a personal level and knew enough about Curtis to say she was a kind person.

“I was shocked and really sad,” said Lawson. “I didn’t want to believe that she was one of my students. It felt like a personal loss for me because she was one of my own.”

She described Curtis as “very pleasant and easy to get along with.” “She was a very good person to have in the classroom,” Lawson said. “Everyone liked her, and she was a very nice person.”

Lawson said her class had a moment of silence at the beginning of class in remembrance of Curtis.

“Unfortunately we had a test scheduled for this morning and we had to go on with it,” she said. “There was an atmosphere of sadness in the classroom. I could tell the students weren’t up for discussing her death.”

Lawson said she sent e-mails last night to her students to break the sad news to her students. But she said nothing can prepare students for the loss of another student..

According to Durham Police Department records, Curtis’ husband, Darrin Lee Curtis, filed a missing persons report around 8:30 a.m. after the body had been found. The report later helped officials to identify the victim as Curtis.

The investigation is being handled by the Wake County Sherriff’s office in partnership with NCCU campus police and Raleigh Public Safety.

Wake County Sherriff Donnie Harrison told the News and Observer that the sheriff’s office has ruled out the possibility of hit-and-run.

Wake County Sherriff public relations representative Phyllis Stevens the department has issued search warrants for two vehicles, one of which was found near Curtis’ body.

vehicle was found a quarter of a mile from her body.

Curtis transferred to NCCU two semesters ago. She previously attended Bennett College and Wake Technical Community College.

"The entire university community is saddened by the death of this student and we offer sincere condolences to her family at this difficult time," Chancellor Charlie Nelms said in a news release this afternoon.