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A young woman whose remains were found in Middlebury in October left behind a diary, cellphone and laptop that investigators have mined for clues about how she ended up here and why she took her own life. Since Sun Mi Shin’s death, which was ruled a suicide by the office of the chief medical examiner, the reason she chose Middlebury has remained a mystery.

According to Middlebury chief of police Thomas Hanley, Sun Mi Shin traveled to Burlington from Fairfax, Virginia, in late August or early September. She probably had her last meal in Burlington, Hanley said, and then took a cab to Middlebury where she died of self-imposed dehydration and starvation in a wooded area just off Route 7 South.

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The writings she left behind, including a last will and testament, had to be translated from Korean, which explains in part why the investigation has taken so long.

Hanley said Shin’s death probably occurred in the first week of September after a week or so spent in the woods. She was just 100 to 150 yards from the Hannaford shopping center and had made use of a plastic shelter erected by a couple of homeless people who had vacated the area. She had books with her and plenty of money, Hanley said. The lead investigator has been unable to track down one or two in-state numbers on Shin’s cellphone, but they’ve concluded there was no third party involved.

“This was planned, and her condition was self-imposed,” said Hanley.

Although the suicide rate has increased in Vermont over the last decade, it is very unusual for someone to come to the state with the explicit intention of taking their own life. JoEllen Tarallo-Falk director of the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center said she could not recall having heard of a similar case. In addition Tarallo-Falk said starvation is an extremely rare method of committing suicide and suggests an individual is suffering from severe isolation and disconnection.

“We don’t know why the normal systems of support didn’t work,” said Tarallo-Falk.

According to Hanley, Shin had mapped out the area before she arrived and told her parents she was going to St. Michael’s College to join a nearby convent. But that was never her intention. She’d settled on Middlebury and had even selected the wooded area off Means Woods Trail where her body was later found.

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“It was peaceful,” said Hanley. “She liked the area.”

According to Hanley before Shin left Virginia she arranged to have her clothing sent to Catholic charities. She was unhappy with some things, he said, alluding to the material found in her diary, and just let herself go. If not for a couple of hikers who’d gotten lost walking through the woods her body may not have been discovered for months or years. Shin was never reported missing.

In October Shin’s parents, her sister, and a relative came up to meet with police and help with the investigation. According to Hanley they were surprised at what had happened.

“It’s just a sad case,” Hanley said. “She was a brilliant young woman who probably could have used some help.”

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