U.S. victim in Germany attack was University of Illinois computer graduate

A U.S. hiker who was brutally murdered in Germany last week had just graduated from the University of Illinois with a computer science degree.

The Rev. Mark Zhang of Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, Illinois, said Tuesday that 21-year-old Eva Liu and her parents attended the church and Liu's parents told him that she had been killed.

“It's a very tough situation,” Zhang said. “Our words are powerless. We just mourn together with them and pray for them. When one family suffers, our whole church suffers.”

According to authorities, Liu and a 22-year-old friend were hiking near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany on the afternoon of June 14. The Associated Press has not been able to independently confirm Liu's friend's name.

The two women encountered a 30-year-old man from Michigan on the path. He lured them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint, according to police. At some point he attacked Liu. When her friend tried to help her the man threw the friend off a cliff. She fell almost 165 feet (50 meters).

The man then apparently tried to sexually assault Liu before throwing her off the cliff as well.

Mountain rescue teams were able to reach the women but Liu died in a hospital that night. Her friend survived and was released from a hospital on Sunday.

The Michigan man left the scene but was arrested nearby. A bystander said the man had scratches across his face but said nothing as police took him away to jail.

The man's name hasn't been released due to German privacy rules. He is suspected of murder, attempted murder and a sexual offense but prosecutors have said it may be three to four months before he's indicted.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler said in a statement late Monday evening that Liu and her friend both graduated from the school in May. Liu earned a bachelor's degree in computer science. Her friend earned a degree in computer engineering.

“Our University of Illinois family is mourning the senseless death of Ms. Liu and the attack on (her friend),” Kaler said. “Both had just graduated in May and should have been able to celebrate such an important accomplishment with the fear of such a tragic outcome.”

Barry Gin, another pastor at Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, said that Liu was a member of the church's youth group before attending boarding school at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora as a sophomore. Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli planned a moment of silence in Liu's honor at Tuesday night's city council meeting.

Neuschwanstein, located in southern Bavaria close to Austria’s border, is one of Germany’s most popular tourist attractions.

It is the most famous of the castles built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th century. Construction started in 1869 but was never completed. Ludwig died in 1886.