Mount Holly, NC – Mount Holly Police need some help in trying to determine what happened to 20-year-old Irina “Ira” Yarmolenko. On Monday, at around 10 a.m. the UNCC student’s car was seen at a coffee shop near the university. At 1:15, she was found laying dead beside her car on the banks of the Catawba river.
Police Chief David Belk said she appeared to have driven off the road behind the Waters Edge development and the Stowe Family YMCA. They still do not know how she died or why she was so far away from campus.
“It’s strange that anyone would go to that area,” he said.
She was born in the Ukraine but grew up in Chapel Hill with her family who moved to North Carolina in the 1990s as refugees. Ira was a member of the Russian Club as well as a photographer and occasional writer for the student newspaper.
Police are still looking for more information about Yarmolenko’s death so contact Mount Holly Police at 704-827-4343 if you have any.
A candlelight vigil will be held at the Belk Tower on the UNC Charlotte campus at 7 tonight.Visitation will be held at Walker’s Funeral Home, 120 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill (919-942-3861) from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. She will be buried at 4 p.m. Saturday in Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery.
Here is a tribute video found on Youtube.
Can anyone explain to me what the reasoning would be behind “first degree infanticide” and... - 
Now that is a sick fuck that can sit talking to the parents and more likely than not be... - 
My understanding is that the Bakers talked to them that afternoon leaving a very short few... - 
That’s right. I was confused. Now I understand. Thanks, Meg, for your clarification and thank... - 
For anyone who is a member of a Missionary Baptist community or has any other kind of close... - 
Oh, I understand and I think you’re probably right about Couty. There’s a difference... - 
27 responses so far ↓
1
Kathy
May 8, 2008 at 8:44 am -No mention of the cause of death at all? That is strange.
2
Morbid
May 8, 2008 at 10:28 am -Yeah, not much information as of yet. One of the main reasons why I posted it was because of the unanswered questions of not only why, but how.
3
Mandella
May 8, 2008 at 11:25 am -Such a beautiful girl. What a shame.
4
LeeMouse
May 8, 2008 at 11:53 am -http://tiny.cc/UNCC-student-s-.....-a-mystery
This article refers to her death as a “murder.” Not sure if that’s based on some updated police statement, or just the newspaper’s choice of words. Of course, when a 20 year-old woman just shows up dead in mysterious circumstances, you don’t have to leap very far to get to an assumption of murder.
From the link above:
9:30 a.m. Monday — Yarmolenko is spotted on the UNCC campus.
10:45 a.m. — She’s at Jackson’s Java. She worked as a barista there but wasn’t working that morning. She left in her car, which friends and police say she rarely drove.
1:15 p.m. — A jet skier finds Yarmolenko’s body next to her car along the Catawba River.
[snip]
Yet another piece of the puzzle is how Yarmolenko’s car ended up down a steep embankment with a door open.
Investigators say she did not fall out of the door, which means she either got out on her own or was pushed out.
Police aren’t saying if they found evidence of another person in the car.
http://www.charlotte.com/break.....13461.html
According to this article:
Because the car was found about a half mile from any paved road, Belk said it didn’t appear to be an accident. However, he said, nothing has been ruled out yet. Police are still investigating along with the FBI and State Bureau of Investigation.
Belk said he couldn’t comment on how Yarmolenko died. He said there was nothing in the car to indicate alcohol or drugs were a factor, but an autopsy will be performed.
Belk said he wasn’t sure if anyone else had been in the car. He said there were no signs of anything unusual or evidence of a break-in.
I wonder how fast the car was going? There wasn’t any mention of extensive damage to the car (since it didn’t “appear to be an accident”), so could it have been going fast enough for her to sustain fatal injuries if she was pushed from the car, or jumped to avoid an assault? Couldn’t have been going too fast, since if there was another person in the car, they apparently walked away.
5
Morbid
May 8, 2008 at 12:37 pm -That’s the area. The building is the Y. The dirt at the top is probably the Water’s Edge development.
6
Hippiepoet
May 8, 2008 at 12:44 pm -Such a beautiful, vibrant looking young woman. I hope we learn soon, what the fuck went down.
7
LeeMouse
May 8, 2008 at 2:08 pm -Press conference scheduled for 3:30pm today:
http://www.gastongazette.com/n.....mount.html
8
Morbid
May 8, 2008 at 2:36 pm -Added tribute video
9
carol13
May 8, 2008 at 3:02 pm -fuck that video made me sad…I hope they find something out soon.
10
Not So Speechless
May 8, 2008 at 3:15 pm -What a loss. She was a lovely girl.
11
blahblahblah
May 8, 2008 at 4:15 pm -horrible…i hope they figure this out soon, for her family’s sake.
what a beautiful girl.
12
LeeMouse
May 8, 2008 at 4:24 pm -“Officials say UNCC student was suffocated”:
http://tinyurl.com/6nfy5m
I wonder if it was a rape or attempted rape, and she was accidentally (or not) killed while trying to keep her from screaming?
One of the articles I read (can’t find the link right this second) said that, according to friends, she did know someone who lived in the town where she was found, and she would visit that person on what seemed like a regular basis. But, of course, that person is said to be, “Someone who couldn’t possibly do something like this.”
13
LeeMouse
May 8, 2008 at 4:29 pm -Erp! Wasn’t quick enough on the edit button–
Ah…here’s the article:
http://tinyurl.com/5lx5nz
“UNC Charlotte Theater Professor Lon Bumgarner said he was told that Yarmolenko did have a friend she visited in Gaston County, but that person apparently does not seem capable of doing her harm.
“None of this makes any sense,” Bumgarner said.”
14
Mandella
May 8, 2008 at 4:39 pm -That video totally made me cry.
15
Indrid Cold
May 8, 2008 at 5:28 pm -What a beautiful girl. There aren’t any good words for tragedies like this.
16
ab
May 8, 2008 at 7:06 pm -Seems to be a website of hers:
http://a-new-pen.greatestjournal.com/
17
Indrid Cold
May 8, 2008 at 7:19 pm -Her photobucket. It’s her, all right.
s33.photobucket.com/albums/d59/ctrlcopy/
18
ab
May 8, 2008 at 7:20 pm -And her facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people.....o/36617670
So sad!
19
ab
May 8, 2008 at 7:36 pm -And her obituary. What a tragic loss!
http://www.legacy.com/Charlott.....=109250336
20
Ruby
May 8, 2008 at 9:19 pm -Ok, watching that video = big mistake. I’m all teared up from watching a video of still photos of someone I don’t know. Beautiful girl. Vibrant. ALIVE. She was so full of life. Who would just rub that out?
And damn - I think there are more photos of her in that video clip than there are of me in existence, and I’ve been around way longer. Someone really liked to photograph that girl!!
Sad.
21
Wonder
May 9, 2008 at 4:08 am -shouldnt they be showing the car, make model yr color license plate number if they want to account for those couple hours. :S
Hope the FBI gets some prints dna, empressions so they can solve this horrible crime.
I feel just horrible for the fella and the construction worker that had to report it… Kudo for them to be there when needed the most. otherwise Ira could of been left there for sometime. Who knows when someone would of reported her missing. This will help narrow the leads
**** They are coming after you - you fucking retard asshat **** Your best to turn yourself in !!! What could of made you soooooooo mad to kill ?
22
akika666
May 9, 2008 at 8:55 am -I never look at tribute videos anymore. Impending menopause has made me as mushy as a Hallmark card, a trait my normally cold black heart isn’t comfortable with. Yuck, feelings… ew!
I’m worried this case is taking so long, with so little info…
23
Morbid
May 10, 2008 at 5:00 pm -She died from asphyxiation. She was at a credit union at 10:18 and then went to the coffee shop where she left at 10:50. Some people are hinting at an abduction.
24
WryBread
May 10, 2008 at 6:29 pm -I often w0nder if murderers involved in a story come on this site to read people’s comments.
25
Morbid
May 14, 2008 at 11:15 pm -They just reported on my local news that she was last seen at a Goodwill by the University.
26
tonysventure
May 15, 2008 at 8:35 am -Tragic! RIP Irina…I created the following tribute in her name. Please add any photos, videos, pics that you would like to share.
http://respectance.com/IrinaYarmolenko
27
yarmolenko
May 31, 2008 at 12:28 pm -[...] Ira Yarmolenko. On Monday, at around 10 a.m. the UNCC student&aposs car was seen at a coffee …http://www.dreamindemon.com/2008/05/08/irina-yarmolenko-is-dead/DBLP: Viktor Yarmolenko1 EE Viktor Yarmolenko, Rizos Sakellariou: An evaluation of heuristics for [...]
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