Celina Cass Update: Female Body Found at Dam Near Home of Missing Girl
Officials searching for Celina Cass, the 11-year-old New Hampshire girl missing since last week, have found a female’s body in the area of their search, a state prosecutor said Monday.
Vincent Illuzzi, Essex County state attorney, said the body was found in Connecticut River near a hydroelectric dam between Stewartstown and Canaan, Vermont. Investigators have not identified the body.
Celina Cass was last seen the night of July 25 in her Stewartstown, New Hampshire, home almost a mile from the dam.
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A dive team searched the stretch of the Connecticut River near the hydroelectric dam and reporters were asked to leave when investigators blocked the area off.
On Saturday, the FBI announced a $25,000 reward for any information that could help find Celina. An anonymous member of the community also added an additional $5,000 dollars to the reward sum.
Earlier Monday, Cass’s stepfather, Wendell Noyes was rushed to the hospital for odd behavior on the driveway of his home. NBC News reported Noyes was seen “repeatedly lying face down and rolling around in the driveway.”
In 2003 Noyes was involuntarily committed for schizophrenia and arrested for threatening an ex-girlfriend, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
Presiding judge over the case, Judge Richard Hampe ruled Noyes unfit to stand trail and that his mental illness runs “a potentially serious likelihood of danger to himself and others.”
Noyes was considered a paranoid schizophrenic by a forensic examiner. The court papers reported that he most likely developed the mental illness while in the Air Force.
Wendell Noyes has not been named a suspect in this case.
Over 100 investigators federal, state, and local law officials are searching land and water for the missing 11-year-old. The FBI joined the search with a “child abduction rapid deployment team.”
According to Assistant Attorney General Jane Young, this is still being handled as a missing persons case.
FBI investigator Kieran Ramsey told ABC News, "I can tell you actually what we have not learned and that is where is Celina Cass now."
In a press conference Sunday, Celina’s biological father, Adam Laro reached out to the public for the first time. Until last Thursday, Laro was in the hospital battling for his life with a serious heart condition, according to NewHampshire.com.
"If she hears me now ... daddy's okay now. I'm getting much better and I'm recovering from the hospital," Laro said.
He added, "So whenever you're ready to come home Celina, daddy will be here waiting for you."
No suspects have been named in this case and anyone with information is asked to call New Hampshire State Police at 603-846-3333.
