This morning the chemistry building where Michele Dufault tragically died on this week reopened on Thursday, but the machine shop in laboratory building, where Dufault died, is closed while the investigation into her death begins.
The 22-year-old Yale senior was working on her senior project in the machine shop when she died. She was strangled when her long brown hair got stuck inside the metal lathe she was using. Students found her body in the lab early Wednesday morning.
Yale police and OSHA are conducting separate investigations into what happened inside the science building. Yale plans to conduct a full review of its safety practices and procedures.
Dufault, of Scituate, Massachusetts, was supposed to graduate in May with a degree in physics and astronomy.
Yale's President Richard Levin said Dufault's parents will come to the campus for a memorial service for their daughter before the semester ends.
A funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, April 16, at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s of the Nativity in Scituate Harbor.
Visiting hours will be held on Friday, April 15, from 4 - 8 p.m. at McNamara-Sparrell Funeral Home, 1 Summer St., Cohasset. The interment will private.
Michele’s volunteering included work at New England Village, in Pembroke. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those wishing to honor Michele’s memory contribute to New England Village, 664 School St., Pembroke, Massachusetts, or the Nature Conservancy.
