Body of missing Indianapolis art teacher, Amanda Lynn Webster, found in Puerto Rico rainforest after failing to check out of Airbnb during holiday. Authorities have yet to say how the woman came to die.
How did she die? The body of a missing Indiana teacher has been found in Puerto Rico after the solo traveler failed to check out of her Airbnb last week.
Amanda Lynn Webster, 44, an art teacher at the Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Indianapolis, was reported missing Wednesday by her Airbnb host, Fox 59 reported.
The landlord realized that Webster ‘failed to leave the home as agreed upon and left her belongings and a rented car on the property,’ local police said in a release on Facebook.
Cause and manner of death non determinable
On Friday, Police Commissioner Antonio Lopez Figueroa activated an ‘Ashanti Alert’ asking people to help search for the woman, who had last been seen at Casa Parcha guest house near El Yunque National Park in Naguabo.
Authorities on Saturday said they made the grisly discovery of a body, near the rocky area of river in the Rio Blanco neighbourhood.
‘A lifeless body, which could be that of a woman, was found this morning in the river in the Río Blanco neighborhood of the Camino Viejo Sector of Naguabo,’ police said in the statement.
‘The body was found face down floating in a rocky area of the river, so the Police CIC team, together with the Prosecutor’s Office and staff from the Forensic Institute, are working on the extraction and identification process,’ cops said.
‘At this stage it is not possible to identify the gender of the body or conclude whether it shows signs of violence,’ the statement added.
The potential dangers of traveling alone in the wild
Sources close to Webster’s family told Fox 59 that the person found was Webster.
‘I’m just happy she was found and that her family, her students and the community and all her friends can have some form of closure even though it’s pretty earth-shattering,’ Webster’s good friend Sharon Rickson told WTHR. ‘There’s hundreds if not thousands of lives she directly impacted. A lot of people are going to be feeling this loss.’
It remained unclear how Webster came to end up in the river, with commentators on social media speculating that the woman may have accidentally fallen while hiking along the rocky area. While others wondered if the woman met foul play at the hands of an unknown individual.
Along with teaching art, Webster also worked with special-education students at Franklin Township schools.
‘She was such a force. She was such a positive force. You would feel her presence and her warmth immediately. She gave the best hugs,’ Rickson told WTHR.
‘She was very unique, happy-go-lucky, never met a stranger and absolutely beautiful radiant personality. We are really going to miss her,’ she added.
The educator’s mother, Pamela Webster confirmed the body found by local authorities was indeed that of her daughter.
Wrote the grieving mom: ‘Thank all of you for your support and prayers. They just found Amanda’s body in the river, she had been under water for some time.’
The school district said counseling services would be provided to students and staff beginning Monday.
The female educator’s death underscores the potential dangers of traveling alone in the wilderness, let alone a less developed foreign country, particularly as a woman….
