MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) - The family of the Wisconsin woman shot and killed released a statement to Spectrum News 1 Thursday, expressing grief but also pride in Rachelle Bergeron's accomplishments in her 33 years.

Bergeron died after a gunman approached and shot her in front of her home on the island of Yap in the Western Pacific nation of Micronesia. The Waukesha native was the island's only prosecutor, the state's acting attorney general.

“We are in a place that no family wants to be, planning a funeral for a life senselessly cut short," her family said in the statement. 

Bergeron's career began as a law student at the University of Florida, and took her to New York, India and the Western Pacific. Her parents and three siblings visited Yap in July for Rachelle's wedding ceremony, and she made a trip home in September.

Rachelle Bergeron's mother Tammy told the New York Times her oldest daughter planned to return to the U.S. on Christmas Day for a new job in Wyoming.

The family concluded its statement, "She was caring and courageous being driven by her faith in Jesus Christ. We are grateful for the time we had with her.”

They will fly to Yap for a memorial service next week.

The FBI continues to assist Micronesian investigators in the case.