Hays ? A man who had been dating a Fort Hays State University student has been arrested in her death.

Angela May Goddard, 21, was found dead Tuesday afternoon near an oil-field tank battery a few miles southwest of Hays. The coroner determined it was a homicide and that she died of asphyxia, the office of Ellis County Atty. Thomas Drees said Thursday.

The 32-year-old Hays man in custody has not been charged, but Drees said charges were anticipated in the next few days.

The man was transported to the Hays Medical Center from the scene where the body was found, then taken into custody. The nature of his injuries was not disclosed.

The slain woman’s mother, Jill Goddard of Russell, said her daughter and the man in custody had been dating but that she was “trying to break up with him.”

She said her daughter had moved back home to Russell from her Hays apartment two weeks ago because she was frightened about a situation that Jill Goddard said appeared to be connected to her daughter’s death.

Angela Goddard graduated from Russell High School in 2002 and attended Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina for a year before transferring to Fort Hays State.

“She was a good student,” her mother said. “She was just full of energy, loved animals and children. Angela was just bubbly and full of life.”