19-year-old Penn State student from NJ dies in fall down trash chute

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A 19-year-old Penn State student from New Jersey died in a fall down an 11th-floor trash chute at an apartment building near campus.

State College police say Justine Gross, of Summit, disappeared on the evening of November 10, last seen at the Beaver Terrace apartments.

Police say video evidence shows she was alone in the 11th-floor hallway and in the waste disposal room when she fell.

She was reported missing the next day, and her body was found at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority transfer station in College Township at 2:45 a.m. on November 12.

Prior to the discovery, the waste receptacle had been emptied by a Borough of State College refuse truck.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and that all witnesses are cooperating.

At this point, they say it appears to be accidental in nature.