(Reuters) -A British student living in Italy has been found dead with her throat cut in a flat she shared with three other students, Italian police said on Friday.
The body was discovered in a house in Perugia, capital of the Umbria region of central Italy.
"The girl was naked, with signs of a cut to the neck," a police official said. "The door was shut, and the agents had to force their way in."
Reports in the Italian media said the woman had been studying in Perugia since August. Police were led to the scene after finding her mobile phone in the garden of a nearby house.
The British Embassy later identified the woman as Meredith Kercher, 22. It said she was from England but did not give her home town.
The embassy said her family had been told, but declined to give further details, saying an Italian police investigation was under way.
The historic town is a popular base for foreign language students.