Penn State Student Dies After Falling Down Apartment Trash Chute

A Penn State student is dead after a bizarre accident earlier this month.

Justine Gross, 19, was found at the Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority transfer station in the early hours of Nov. 12 after she had been reported missing the night before, State College police said in a statement Friday.

Around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, Justine plunged nearly a dozen floors after she fell "inside an 11th floor solid waste disposal chute" in an apartment building and "into a waste receptacle on the ground floor," police said.

"Video evidence suggests she was alone in the 11th floor hallway and in the waste disposal room when she fell," police said.

Justine was reported missing at 5:15 p.m. Nov. 11, and found hours later at the recycling and refuse station at 2:45 a.m. Nov. 12. In between her fall and the discovery of her body, the waste receptacle had been emptied by a Borough of State College refuse truck.

Justine, who is from New Jersey, had reportedly had a "smoke" in the apartment building with a man before her fall, her mother told NJ Advance. She did not clarify what they were smoking.

Francoise Gross told the outlet that she had spoken with the man, who told her that Justine had "a really bad reaction" to the smoke and went into a "panic."

Francoise, who was shown video footage by police, told NJ Advance that Justine had left her 10th floor apartment and gone down to the man's apartment on the seventh floor. They both later exited the apartment before Justine ran to the 11th floor, apparently alone, and into the chute room.

Police said that the incident "still appears to be accidental in nature," and that "all witnesses" are "fully cooperating with police."

Francoise told NJ Advance that she believes "someone was chasing" her daughter and that Justine "went into the chute, thinking it was a staircase."

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State College police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Penn State spokesperson Lisa Powers told NJ Advance that it would be "inappropriate for the University to interfere with that investigation nor to address information that has not been publicly released."

"We are heartbroken for the family and friends of Justine Gross and offer our condolences to all who knew and loved her," Powers said in a statement. "Penn State staff in Student Affairs and beyond are offering assistance to family and acquaintances who are mourning this loss."

A vigil was held for Justine on Thursday night outside the apartment building, and her funeral will be held Saturday in New Jersey.