HEARTBREAKING

D.C. Couple Identified as U.S. Cyclists Killed in Tajikistan Attack

Georgetown grads had already biked across three continents as part of trip around the world.

Two of the bicyclists killed in a knife attack in Tajikistan claimed by ISIS have been identified as a Washington, D.C., couple who quit their jobs to bike around the world. Lauren Geoghegan, 29, and Jay Austin, 29, were killed Sunday when a group of assailants rammed a vehicle into them and then assaulted them with knives. A Dutch national and a Swiss national were also killed in what the U.S. State Department has described as a “senseless attack.” Austin and Geoghegan, both graduates of Georgetown University, had already cycled across three continents as part of a year-long journey documented on their Simply Cycling blog when they were killed. Austin had worked for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for seven years before the trip. On the blog, the pair documented their travels and wrote about the kindness of strangers in Tanzania, Zambia, Macedonia, Morocco, Spain, and Kyrgyzstan, among other places. The couple decided to embark on the journey, Austin wrote, “because life is short and the world is big and we want to make the most out of our youth and good health before they’re gone.”