A Kansas elementary school teacher who went missing after a night out has been found dead in a wooded area, buried under snow from a powerful winter storm. Rebecca Rauber, 28, was discovered on Sunday following a two-day search, the Emporia Police Department confirmed.
Rauber, a second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School, was last seen leaving the Town Royal bar in downtown Emporia around 11:30 p.m. on Friday. She left behind her phone, keys, jacket and purse, her family said. Surveillance footage showed her walking west on Fifth Avenue before heading north on Neosho Street at 11:37 p.m., with additional video placing her in the 700 block of West Fourth Avenue at 11:44 p.m.
On Sunday, officers located a deceased woman about 300 yards south of where Rauber was last seen on video. Police confirmed the woman was Rauber. “At this time, it appears, Rebecca may have succumbed to hypothermia early on in her disappearance as she was covered in snow due to the snowstorm that became heavy on Saturday, January 24th,” police said in a statement.
Emporia Public Schools said the district will provide counselors and support teams for students and staff. District officials also asked the community and media to respect the family’s privacy as they grieve. Rauber is the 13th fatality linked to the winter storm that has pummeled much of the country.
