LURKING AT LUNCH

Carolyn Byington popped home for a bite to eat, unaware of an intruder that would make her regret that very decision…

- ANAIS SEELY

Travelling the globe, it was Carolyn Byington’s life goal to improve every aspect of herself.

Whether that was planning family holidays or choosing to enrol on various courses in Japan and Germany, she was on a mission to learn more about the world – and the people that were in it.

Receiving a double major in International Affairs, Anthropology and Sociology, graduating from Lafayette College, Easton, in 2015, it was clear that Carolyn, 26, was extremely gifted.

And with a multitude of friends scattered all over the world, what wasn’t there to love?

An avid volunteer in the New Jersey community, as well as loving all things music from country to opera, Carolyn had a supportive network around her.

In fact, her family members even coined a term of endearment every time that they saw one another, claiming that they ‘love[d] her to Pluto and back’.

And after graduating, Carolyn plunged herself into a new job role, working as a Market Research Project Manager at the US marketing company ENGINE in 2016.

Alongside fellow co-workers, Carolyn seemed to settle in well.

And after leaving her Hunters Glen Apartment, in New Jersey, in the morning, she wouldn’t return until the evening – rarely ever popping home for lunch.

That was until 10 June 2019. Leaving the ENGINE office at midday, simply popping home for a bite to eat, Carolyn was set to return to work that afternoon – just like the majority of office workers.

However, that’s not what happened that day.