Last Missing Lynn Student's Body Found in Haiti

19-year-old was last among missing from South Florida college

Just over a month after the devastating earthquake ravaged Haiti, the bodies of all members of the faculty and student group who had been missing have been found.

Britney Gengel, 19, was the last of four students and two professors who went missing in Port-au-Prince when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit on Jan. 12.

Gengel's body was found amid the rubble of the Hotel Montana, the place the group was staying during their trip to Haiti, according to the school.

"While at Lynn, Britney triumphed academically and socially and was a true inspiration to the Lynn community and the community at large," said Lynn President Kevin M. Ross in a statement. "She was a beautiful young woman who gave her life serving others. We will miss her terribly."

The 12 student, two faculty member group was part of the Boca Raton school's "Journey of Hope" program, a humanitarian aid effort that had arrives just a day before the quake hit.

While eight of the students made it back to the states alive, the four students and two professors all died at the hotel. The deceased include Gengel, from Rutland, Mass., Courtney Hayes, 23, of Douglas, Ga., Christine Gianacaci of Hopewell, N.J., Stephanie Crispinelli of Katonah, N.Y., and professors Dr. Patrick Hartwick and Dr. Richard Bruno.

The body of Bruno, 59, was found Saturday.

Though family members had been holding out hope that their loved ones might be found, that hope faded as the search efforts continued without success. School officials three weeks ago said that it was time to grieve.

"We had waited for good news, hoped for a miracle - prayed for a different outcome. But it is apparently not to be," Ross said. "And it is time for us now to grieve, and to begin to heal."

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