Former US attorney for Virginia found dead at 43

Former U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia Jessica Aber was found dead in Alexandria Saturday morning, police said. She was 43.

Police found Aber dead after being called on a report of an unresponsive woman at around 9:18 a.m., the Alexandria Police Department said in a statement.

Police did not characterize the death as suspicious or not, and said the medical examiner’s office will determine the cause and manner of death.

“As a matter of protocol, an investigation is underway surrounding the circumstances of her death,” police said.

Aber resigned as U.S. attorney on Jan. 20, the same day that President Donald Trump was inaugurated.

She was appointed by President Joe Biden on Aug. 10, 2021, and was then confirmed by the Senate.

Aber had previously been an assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2009 and was deputy chief of the criminal division before being named U.S. attorney, her department biography says.

U.S. attorneys are political appointments and are able to be removed at the will of a president. Trump in February, a month after Aber resigned, on Truth Social said he “instructed the termination” of all the remaining U.S. attorneys under Biden.

The U.S. attorney for the district, Erik S. Siebert, said that he and the office were heartbroken over Aber’s death.

“We are heartbroken beyond words to learn of the passing of our friend and former colleague, U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber. She was unmatched as a leader, mentor, and prosecutor, and she is simply irreplaceable as a human being,” he said in a statement.

“She loved EDVA and EDVA loved her back,” Siebert wrote.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi also expressed her condolences, saying “The loss of Jessica Aber, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is deeply tragic.”

“Our hearts and prayers go out to her family and friends during this profoundly difficult time,” Bondi said.