Authorities in Tel Aviv, Israel found the body of University of Kentucky pre-med student TeNiya Elnora Jones on a beach on Monday (Jul 20), New Press reports.
The 19-year-old was reportedly accompanied by two other students who all went of a midnight swim on Sunday night (Jul 29). The two students survived a huge current that swallowed them into the ocean but Jones drowned.
Before the accident happened, Jones’ mother Tosha Thomas-Mora was reportedly in contact with her that night (10:30 pm Israeli time; 3:330 pm EST American time) via text message, where Jones said she was “in for the night.”
Jones graduated from Dunbar High Schoo in 2017 and was a member of a group of American students studying Arabic in Jordan. According to her mother, she was a biology major with a minor in Islamic studies. The Fort Meyers, Florida native was an excellent student whose solid grades got her into the University of Kentucky pre-med program at College of Arts & Sciences and was supposed to start on August 23.
In a statement released to ABC News, the university has offered their condolences and any assistance needed to the Jones family. “Our thoughts and prayers are with TeNiya, her family and the students and others impacted,” said the University of Kentucky’s President Eli Capilouto.
“We are in continual contact with TeNiya’s family, officials in Israel, officials from the State Department and our Congressional delegation, to provide all the support we can for the family, students, and others involved. We will do everything possible to provide whatever support is needed.”
Thomas-Mora is reportedly en route to Israel to pick up her daughter’s body. Sadly, her 22-year-old son, Samuel Jones Jr. was shot and killed in a double homicide in December 2018.
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