USC spokesman James Grant said Ashcraft was a full-time student in her third year. Citing privacy rules, Grant said he could not confirm a police statement that Ashcraft had been suspended because of academic problems but said she has now been suspended, pending the outcome of the criminal case.
Ashcraft's profile on the popular student networking website Thefacebook.com shows an attractive young woman who lists musical tastes including punk and hip-hop and academic interests in fine arts and architecture. She includes a quote from novelist John Steinbeck and another from Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. She lists about three dozen friends at USC and many at other colleges.
Several of those Ashcraft listed as friends said they liked her but did not know her well.
Tamara Krulisky said she had seen Ashcraft only once this year but described her as outgoing and gregarious, with a great sense of humor. "She did not seem like a secretive girl to me," Krulisky said in an e-mail.
Another, Uchechukwu Anene, a junior who was in Ashcraft's dorm when the two were freshmen, said that she had seen her twice last week and that she seemed to be doing fine, but added that she did not know much about the young woman's personal life. She also said Ashcraft was wearing a jacket but did not appear to be pregnant.
"I'm just shocked by this," Anene said. "It seems really out of character for her."
Jim Weber, a real estate broker and property manager who rented Ashcraft her one-room apartment above the popular 29th Street Cafe, said she seemed pleasant when he met her in August. He also said the tall, slender young woman was not obviously pregnant at the time.
"She just seemed like a really decent, kind of wholesome girl from Montana," Weber said. "She just seemed like a sweet girl."
Ann Dorr, who owns the building and a number of other rental properties near the campus, said the young woman paid her rent on time, and was generally viewed by other tenants as agreeable and not a partyer.
Dorr said police told her that Ashcraft had been linked to the case after she sought medical treatment at an area hospital. Now, the building owner said, "I feel like I need to protect her. I'm not justifying what she's done, but I also don't like her to be judged.... I think she was just plain scared."
Natalie Beglau, who works in property management upstairs from where Ashcraft lived, said police executed a search warrant there Wednesday night. Beglau said the case has troubled her since it hit the news.
