Authorities reported that they have found the body of Kori Gauthier in the Mississippi River after she was reported missing last week.
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The Louisiana State University student’s missing person case went viral on social media after family and friends pleaded for her safe return on April 6. She stopped reporting to class and missed a doctor’s appointment, Before the discovery, investigators said her car was abandoned on the Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge after it was struck by another vehicle. Her cell phone was also damaged during the incident.
LSU Chief of Police Bart Thompson said 18-year-old Gauthier’s body was pulled from the St. John the Baptist Parish on Tuesday and no criminal activity or foul play was involved. “Since Kori was first reported missing, the LSU Police Department, Baton Rouge Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies and volunteers have taken exhaustive measures to locate her and, in the process, to determine what led to her disappearance. This is a difficult conclusion for all of us, but we hope this will bring closure for the Gauthier family,” he said.
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According to the New York Post, Gauthier’s uncle left a Facebook video thanking everyone for their search efforts and added that the family hopes that finding her remains “can start the healing process.” Her father also wrote the following message on Facebook: “I come to you with a very heavy heart!!, God granted me the one wish I had and that was to receive her in any way to be put to rest properly… I would like to thank everyone who assisted in any way.”
Before her passing, Gauthier was an education major at the school and started her freshman year.