Rebecca Rauber missing Emporia, Kansas elementary school teacher found dead less than 300 yards from leaving bar without coat, purse or cellphone amid giant winter storm enveloping much of the U.S.
A missing Kansas elementary school teacher was found deceased in snow just 300 yards from where surveillance footage last captured her Friday after the woman becoming enveloped in snow amid a massive winter storm enveloping much of central and north east America.
The body of 28-year-old Rebecca Rauber was found covered in snow in a wooded area of Emporia on Sunday, near where she was last seen leaving a bar days earlier, KWCH reported.
Cause of death of missing Emporia, Kansas teacher likely hypothermia
Police said Rauber was located by K-9 Daisy of K-9 Search and Rescue Kansas.
‘Not the outcome that we had all hoped and prayed for, but our thoughts and prayers are with that family,’ Emporia Police Chief Edward Owens told the outlet.
‘Just wish we could have found her a little sooner.’
Rauber, a second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School, is believed to have died from hypothermia just hours after she disappeared.
Police said the family of the young teacher has been notified and that an autopsy is pending to determine her cause of death.
Rauber was reported missing early Saturday morning after leaving the Town Royal bar on foot without her purse, phone or a jacket.
Beloved Emporia, Kansas teacher had left bar in frigid temperatures on her own
She was last seen on surveillance footage leaving the bar during the winter storm at around 11:37 p.m.
Temperatures were around 3 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 13, when she is believed to have left the bar.
Rauber had previously been described as standing 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing around 160 pounds. She has brown eyes and brown hair with blonde highlights.
The Emporia Public School District said the beloved teacher’s death was ‘felt deeply across our district.’
‘Our hearts are with Ms. Rauber’s family, friends, students, and all who were touched by her life and dedication to education. She was a valued member of our school community, and her loss is felt deeply across our district,’ the district said in a press release, according to KVOE.
‘At this time, we are focused on supporting our students and staff as they process this difficult news. Counselors and district support teams will be available at our schools to provide care and assistance for anyone who may need it.’
Winter havoc across two thirds of the U.S amid extreme weather
Rauber’s death marks another fatality linked to the deadly national snowstorm dubbed Winter Storm Fern.
At least 13 people have died, with millions of others left without power, after the storm pummeled 34 states with snow and ice on Sunday, according to USA Today.
As snow and sleet fell across more than two-thirds of the nation, more than 11,600 flight cancellations were reported by Sunday evening, according to the FlightAware tracking site.
The powerful storm also caused major blackouts in affected areas, leaving more than 1 million customers without electricity on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tennessee alone had more than 300,000 outage reports, with Mississippi and Louisiana each reporting more than 140,000 customers without power.
Other states experiencing widespread outages included Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia Alabama and Texas where a local food mart store manager was hailed a hero after saving a woman becoming frozen in a parking lot and carrying her inside and saving her from likely death.
