ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) - Vermont State Police say an autopsy has confirmed that a body found off a back road is that of a prep school teacher who disappeared while her son was left unharmed in her idling car.
Police said Tuesday that the death 33-year-old Melissa Jenkins has been ruled a homicide. Police did not release the cause of death.
Jenkins was reported missing Sunday night. Police found her car not far from her St. Johnsbury home. There was evidence of a struggle.
The body was found Monday from where her SUV was found running on Sunday night with her unharmed 2-year-old boy inside.
Jenkins was a single mother who taught science at St. Johnsbury Academy, a prestigious Vermont boarding school established in the 1840s, whose alumni include former President Calvin Coolidge.
Vermont police say the body was found Monday in Barnet, a town not far from St. Johnsbury. A friend who was looking for Jenkins called police Sunday and Jenkins' vehicle was discovered that evening.
He says that authorities are searching for a suspect and that the public should be vigilant.
B.J. Robertson, the father of the boy, would not comment on Jenkins' disappearance.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
NEWS10 ABC
