Friends and family are mourning the loss of a ''beautiful soul taken too soon''.
Massey University student Virginia Ford was allegedly murdered on Friday night by a 21-year-old man with whom she lived in Palmerston North.
Miss Ford, 20, attended Kaikorai Valley College, where she completed year 13 studies in 2012.
She subsequently studied early childhood education at Aoraki Polytechnic before embarking on further study at Massey University, in Palmerston North.
Bronwyn Miller, who knew Miss Ford through her association with the Mornington Scout Group, said her death was a tragedy.