The woman found dead in her Vancouver home on Tuesday night has been identified as Melanie Alexis O'Neill, a Simon Fraser University professor.
Police discovered O'Neill's body in her residence, one of three suites of a home in the 100-block of West 13th Avenue, around 10:30 p.m.
A concerned acquaintance had asked police to check on her welfare after not having heard from her lately, said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton.
According to SFU's website, O'Neill was an associate professor in biophysical and biological chemistry at Simon Fraser University. She earned her PhD at Dalhousie University in 2001 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology from 2001 to 2004
Jon Driver, academic vice-president and currently the acting president at Simon Fraser University, told the Burnaby NOW on Thursday afternoon that the news has hit the university community hard.
"We are shocked and saddened by the news," said Driver. "Whenever you lose a young colleague, the feeling is of complete and utter shock."
Driver said O'Neill was currently on study leave and, to the best of his knowledge, had not taught a class at the university since the fall of 2010.
Driver said the university is offering counselling services to anybody who needs or wants it.
"Our thoughts are with the family and we want to offer our sympathy to her family," said Driver. "We are shocked that this happened."
Police would not confirm O'Neill lived at the residence, but a land title search listed her as the unit's registered owner.
The man detained by Richmond RCMP in connection with the homicide was transferred to VPD for questioning and released without charges, said Houghton.
It is not known what the man's relationship was to O'Neill, or how police were first alerted to him.
He is still considered a person of interest, Houghton said.
Dave Kite, who lives two doors down, said a Caucasian woman who appeared to be in her 30s had just moved into the suite, on the main floor of the large triplex, about three weeks ago.
"We didn't know her very well, but we saw her walking around a few times," he said.
Helen Hutton, also a nearby resident, said the incident was shocking.
"It's a little oasis in the middle of the city," she said of the street, where large trees formed a canopy overhead.
"It makes me extremely nervous, but I can't help but feel it's an isolated incident."
Forensic investigators were at the scene Wednesday. O'Neill's body was removed at 12:15 p.m. The homicide is Vancouver's ninth of 2011.
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