Francoise Gross, a proud mother of three, got the call that every parent fears. From that moment, her life was changed.
"It was horrific. Getting that call is … I couldn't believe, it's like the call you never want to receive," she told NBC San Diego.
Fran's daughter, 19-year-old Justine Gross, was found dead in a landfill after being reported missing about 24 hours prior. The Penn State sophomore didn't return to her apartment the evening prior.
Security footage would show she was at a neighbor's apartment in the same building. While authorities believe she accidentally fell down the trash chute 11 stories to her death, Fran's gut is telling her otherwise.
Authorities have been investigating Justine's death and preliminarily ruled it accidental. Fran explained that Justine's roommates revealed she had met a man in their building days prior. The man is believed to be another student who lives on the building's seventh floor.
Surveillance footage in the building shows Justine visiting the man's apartment. She leaves later, her footing unsteady as she walks away. Moments later, she's seen running on the 10th floor.
The man voluntarily met with and spoke with both Fran and authorities.
"He said, kind of casually, 'She came down and I gave her a smoke,'" Fran told the New York Post.
"He said she had a really bad reaction, a panic or whatever, and he was trying to take her back to her apartment on the 10th floor."
Further suspicions come from the last message Justine sent from her phone before her death. She sent a Snapchat to her two friends, writing, "Something just happened." Moments later, she was seen entering the 11th floor chute room. She never exited.
"That's just not Justine," Fran said.
"She would never do something like that, go down a chute. They want me to believe she walked into that chute. I believe someone was chasing her, and she went into the chute, thinking it was a staircase."
Fran now awaits the results of an autopsy, including a toxicology report, from the coroner. For now, the man who may have been the last one to see Justine alive has obtained a lawyer and has refused to speak further with Fran or police.
