On November 10, 2021, Penn State sophomore Justine Gross fell to her death down the 11th-floor trash chute of Beaver Terrace in downtown State College.
Gross, a Summit, New Jersey, native, left her 10th-floor apartment to meet someone in an apartment on the seventh floor at around 11 p.m. that night. CCTV footage showed that around 40 minutes later, Gross and a male student left his apartment.
The footage showed Gross visibly unbalanced, stroking her face and holding onto a water bottle. The pair navigated their way back up the 10th-floor hallway, where the cameras show the male student leaving her in the hallway instead of taking Gross all the way down to her apartment.
The man headed back downstairs, and the next pieces of footage showed Gross on the 11th floor. She ran into the trash room barefoot.
The man told authorities that he had invited Gross down to his apartment for a “smoke” and offered her a blunt. He said Gross had a “bad reaction”, which prompted him to take her back to the 10th floor, but not all the way back to the apartment.
The footage didn’t show the man on camera with Gross on the 11th floor, and he said he didn’t talk or see her at all after he dropped her off on the 10th floor.
When State College Police finally started its investigation on the night of November 11, investigators couldn’t find any sign of Gross within the walls of Beaver Terrace itself. It wasn’t until 2:45 a.m. the next day, on November 12, that authorities discovered Gross’ body at the Centre County Refuse and Recycling Transfer Station.
From that point, nothing really happened. State College Police
closed the case in February 2022, ruling out any foul play and determining the situation as an “accident”.
The Centre County Coroner’s Office met with Gross’ parents the day before State College Police closed the case to fully review her autopsy report. The report showed dashes of THC and “elevated” levels of alcohol in her liver tissue. When Gross’ parents asked for a copy of their daughter’s autopsy report, the coroner’s office asked for $700.
Gross’ parents reluctantly agreed for State College Police to close the case the following day. Investigators had already questioned the male student Gross was with that night and didn’t find any evidence of foul play.
Francoise Gross, Justine’s mother, maintained that she didn’t believe her daughter was so heavily influenced by marijuana and alcohol that she climbed into the trash chute and fell to her death on her own accord.
The autopsy didn’t check for signs of sexual assault. According to the authorities, Gross’ sandals, wallet, and cell phone were found on the stairwell, which leads her mother to believe that she was being chased.
Furthermore, Gross sent a mysterious Snapchat message to her roommate at 11:22 p.m. that read, “Something just happened.” Whether it truly was a bad reaction to the marijuana and alcohol in her system or something more sinister, no charges were brought forward against the man whose apartment Gross visited that night.
There was never even a name attached to the man who was the last person to see Gross alive. Whether that be because the Centre County District Attorney wanted to protect the male or his name pulled some strings for him, it doesn’t change the fact that Gross’ death is a tragedy, and authorities treated the Gross family with the utmost disrespect.
Rest in peace, Justine Gross.
