Allison Rice.Photo: Paul Rice
With her killer still on the loose, the father ofbeloved LSU student Allison Riceis struggling to come to terms with the senseless murder of his daughter earlier this month.
Before the 21-year-old senior marketing major was shot to death in her vehicle on Sept. 16, Paul Rice told PEOPLE that his daughter was waiting for a friend to close up a Baton Rouge bar so the friend wouldn’t have to leave alone — a testament to the kind of person she was.
Allison Rice.Paul Rice
After parting ways with her friend, Paul says the pair drove off in opposite directions.
When cops knocked on his door at 4:45 a.m. that same morning, he says he knew something wasn’t right.
“They kept mentioning Allie’s name,” Paul recalls. “Finally, I asked, ‘Well, is Allie okay?’ And, that’s when the policeman said, ‘No sir, she’s with the coroner, right now. She didn’t make it.'”
“My heart sank to my feet. I was in complete shock,” he says.
Five days later and still beside himself, Paul did what no parent plans to do — he buried Allie in a Baton Rouge cemetery long before she ever had a chance to figure out what she really wanted out of life, which was cut short at 21 years old.
She was toying with the idea of pursuing a career in social media, advertising or graphic design after graduation.
“I don’t think she truly figured out what her true passions were, to be honest,” Paul says. “She was one that it could change pretty often, but she was a passionate child.”
The grieving dad says he will miss the times Allie went out of her way to spend time with him and show her love.
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“If she didn’t hear from me in a couple days, she’s calling me to let me know that she’s okay and making sure that I am.”
Paul also laughs about the “embarrassing” appearances Allie convinced him to make in her TikTok videos.
“She loved to do TikTok videos and she would drag me into her videos,” he adds. “Some of them were pretty embarrassing, but she loved them.”
While the family waits for answers regarding who killed Allie, a vigil will be held Thursday at LSU in her honor.
In the meantime, local businesses have pledged a $50,000 reward to anyone who has information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer.
source: people.com
