Body of Celina Cass Found In NH River
STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. (CBS/AP) - The body of a young girl found in the Connecticut River Monday morning has been identified as 11-year-old Celina Cass.
Celina was last seen in her house a week ago, Monday, July 25, at her computer.
Authorities say they are treating the death as suspicious.
WBZ-TV's New Hampshire Bureau Chief Lauren Leamanczyk reports.
Friends and family described Cass as studious and reliable, shy and timid, not the type to run away from home.
Her disappearance drew more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers to Stewartstown, a town of 800 residents.
State police and FBI agents from as far away as New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia turned the local school into a bustling command post and searched a mile-wide area around the home. The FBI brought in a special team specializing in child abductions.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Jim Smith reports
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"We have brought Celina home, obviously not the way we wanted to bring her home," said Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young confirms death of Celina Cass
Earlier Monday, Celina's stepfather, Wendell Noyes, was taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment related to his history of mental illness.
In 2003, Noyes was involuntarily committed to New Hampshire Hospital in Concord after he entered his girlfriend's house in the middle of the night and threatened to throw her down stairs, according to court documents.
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