A California teacher who was found by students hanging from a ceiling has been identified as Jillian Jacobson. Suicide is suspected.
Orange County police and people in the community are still trying to determine why Jillian Jacobson committed suicide. Monday, students at El Dorado High School found the teacher hanging from a classroom ceiling. There was no indication of her being depressed or distraught, which complicates the death investigation for authorities, citing a Fox 5 news report.
High school students reported for their photography class on March 2, but couldn’t access the classroom because the door was locked. They sought the assistance of another teacher, who let them in. There, they made the grisly discovery: the teacher was suspended from the class ceiling and was unresponsive. There is no mention of what kind of ligature was used in the fatal hanging.
“She was an amazing teacher,” student says of teacher found hanging.”It was a terrible thing.” http://t.co/GQvxrlc3g9 pic.twitter.com/1q7g6dPRy1— KTLA (@KTLA) March 3, 2015
Police and emergency responders were called to the location school located at 1651 Valencia Avenue. They arrived a short time later and found the teacher on the floor; staff and students had already taken her down. Paramedics tried to resuscitate her, to no avail. The cause of death was death by hanging, the result of suicide. Investigators have ruled out foul play at this stage of the investigation.
Now police are tasked with learning why Jacobson killed herself. There was no note at the scene or her residence, according to her husband. The teacher was employed at the school for about a decade. According to sources, she was very popular. Undoubtedly, her sudden death and the trauma associated with finding the teacher hanging in the classroom will take its toll on students and administrators.
The county coroner will conduct an autopsy this week, as part of routine death investigations. Oftentimes, medical examiners are trying to rule out disease of the brain or any other part of the body. Additionally, a toxicology report is needed to rule out impairment by any prescription or controlled dangerous substances.
For the students and staff who found the teacher hanging from the classroom ceiling, grief counselors were called in for support.