By VTDigger
Nearly a week after she was last seen, a 17-year-old high school student was found dead Tuesday afternoon, according to Vermont State Police.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m., police said in a Tuesday evening press release, a canine search team located Rebecca Ball’s body in a wooded area near the Otter Creek in Weybridge. Police said her death was not considered suspicious.
Ball was last seen near a Middlebury trailhead on March 29 after leaving an appointment in the area, police said in an earlier press release. Authorities and volunteers conducted extensive searches for her. On Saturday, officials scaled back those efforts, with the state police suggesting that Ball, who is autistic, might be evading efforts to be located.
State police did not describe the circumstances of Ball’s death Tuesday but said that, following protocol, the agency would investigate and the state Chief Medical Examiner’s Office would conduct an autopsy.
Organizers of a Facebook page dedicated to searching for Ball wrote Tuesday night that community members would gather Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Middlebury Recreation Center.
Ball’s mother, Jeanne Fair, who lives in Iowa, also posted on the page Tuesday night. “Thank you all for looking for my baby girl,” she wrote.
