Students brave cold to remember friend

By Kelly House | Originally Published: 01/16/08 11:29pm |Modified: 01/16/08 11:38pm | No comments

Nick Dentamaro | The State News

Rylan Cotter’s mother Nancy hugs junior international relations major Brian Doyle on Wednesday night at the rock on Farm Lane during a vigil in Rylan Cotter’s honor. Doyle knew Cotter from their residence in Case Hall freshman year. Doyle said Cotter’s purpose in life was to make the world a more peaceful place.

Fun loving. Brilliant. Eccentric. Funny. A sister and mother-figure to friends.

That is how Rylan Cotter’s friends hoped to remember her as they gathered Tuesday night at the rock on Farm Lane to celebrate their friend’s life.

The 20-year-old international relations junior’s body was discovered Jan. 9 at Brassie Golf Course in Chesterton, Ind.

Cotter died of blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen, said Porter County Coroner Victoria Deppe. The cause of the trauma is still unknown, but police are treating Cotter’s death as a homicide.

More than 60 mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil in Cotter’s honor. But there were more smiles than tears as friends relived fond memories of Cotter.

“How I met Rylan, she came skipping down my hallway one day, poking her head in my room with a huge smile on her face and introduced herself to me,” said Tracy Rohrbach, a social relations and policy junior a friend and former dormmate of Cotter in Case Hall.

Rohrbach said Cotter’s contagious smile and outgoing personality could brighten any situation.

“You’d think you were having the best time of your life and then Rylan would show up and it’d be 10 times better,” she said.

Police are working to piece together information on why Cotter would be in Chesterton and how she died.

Friends said Cotter had planned to make a trip to Chicago to meet a friend.

Chesterton police Lt. Dave Cincoski said police could not yet confirm where Cotter was going, but they believe she stayed at a Benton Harbor motel from 3:30-11:30 a.m. on Jan. 7.

While the mystery behind Cotter’s death was in the back of the minds of those who gathered to remember her, they preferred to focus on the good times.

“She touched a lot of peoples’ lives,” said friend Brian Doyle, an international relations junior. “Rylan could show up and your day would be that much better.”