Arlington County Police have identified a young woman who was found dead Sunday, Sept. 18 in a backyard swimming pool. She is Megan Criste of Burke.
The owner was going outside to use her pool in the 1700 block of North Adam St. when she discovered the body at 3:45 p.m., said Matt Martin, spokesman for Arlington County Police. She did not know the victim, said Arlington County police reports.
Criste, 22, had been at a party in the Lyon Park neighborhood of Arlington, said Martin. People at the party were the last to see her, between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. that morning, he said, but that police do not know where she was going after she left the party.
"We feel confident that we talked to everybody we know of that last saw her alive," said Martin. "The question now is, did she meet up with anyone else before she got to the pool? That is what we are trying to figure out."
Police will not know the cause of death until the autopsy and toxicology test results come back, said Martin. They believe that Criste was likely in the pool by 6 a.m.
The death is being investigated as a suspicious one. Police are requesting information from anyone who may have seen Criste or been with her between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., and ask anyone with information to call Detective Billy Golab at 703-228-4195.
Viewings took place on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Fairfax Memorial Park on Braddock Road in Fairfax. Criste's memorial service was Thursday, Sept. 22, at 11 a.m., at the Church of the Nativity in Burke.
— Rebecca Halik and Lea Mae Rice