Police in Puerto Rico said Saturday they found a body while searching for an Indianapolis art teacher who seemingly vanished a couple of days earlier while vacationing on the Caribbean island.
Amanda Webster, 44, was reported missing Wednesday by the landlord where she was staying after she never checked out, and left behind all her belongings and rented car, Puerto Rican police said in a translated Facebook post.
Police in Puerto Rico said investigators found someone “upside down floating in a rocky area” of a river in the Rio Blanco neighborhood of the Sector Camino Viejo de Naguabo, according to a translated Facebook post.
As of late Saturday afternoon, authorities hadn’t confirmed whether the body was Webster’s and did not say if foul play was suspected.
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“At this stage it is not possible to identify the gender of the body or conclude if it shows signs of violence,” Puerto Rican police said in a translated Facebook post.
Webster was last seen at the Casa Parcha guest house near El Yunque National Park in Naguabo, a tropical rainforest in northeastern Puerto Rico with trails that lead to La Mina waterfall and Mount Britton.
The body was discovered in a river where police had been searching for Webster, according to authorities.
“The CIC team of the Police, along with the Prosecutor’s Office and staff of the Forensic Institute, are working on the extraction and identification process of it,” according to authorities.
After police in Puerto Rico learned Webster was missing, they immediately activated an “Ashanti Alert,” a missing persons alert for adults ages 18-64, who either have a proven disability or could be in danger.
Webster’s disappearance is being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Police, State Emergency Management staff and the U.S. Forest Service, police said.
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Webster’s mother, Pamela, thanked everyone for their “support and prayers” on social media in a Facebook post with a heart-filled background.
Anyone with information is being asked to call 787-343-2020 or 911.
A couple of weeks before Amanda went missing, Pamela penned a Facebook post for “National Daughter’s Day.”
“I didn’t know that there was a daughter’s day. Sorry I missed it, but everyday [sic] is daughter’s day in my life since the day you were born. Love you to the moon and back forever and ever,” she wrote Sept. 27.
