Body found during search for missing 11-year-old New Hampshire girl

[News_Editor]

Body found during search for missing 11-year-old New Hampshire girl

2011-08-02 01:57:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

STEWARTSTOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE (BNO NEWS) -- Police searching for a missing 11-year-old girl from New Hampshire on Monday morning discovered the body of an unidentified female, officials said.

A massive search operation for missing Celina Cass has been ongoing since she went missing between late Monday evening and early Tuesday morning last week. Her family previously told police they last saw Celina at around 9 p.m. local time on Monday evening when she sat at her computer. When the family woke up in the morning, Celina was missing.

Although investigators had no immediate leads on what had happened to the young girl, the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team (CARD) was called in to assist the New Hampshire State Police in its search. The team consists of four to six investigators who have in-depth experience in child abduction cases.

On early Monday morning, an unidentified body was found in the waters near the Canaan Hydro-Dam, which is less than 0.5 mile (0.8 kilometer) from Celina's home. And although officials said it was the body of a female, it was not immediately known if it was Celina's body.

Authorities were expected to hold a news conference later on Monday to provide more details about the discovery.

The FBI previously offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the location of Celina and the arrest and prosecution of a suspect. Another $5,000 reward was later added by an anonymous citizen.

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