Missing girl's body found in local river

After nearly a week of massive searches and volunteers handing out fliers with photos of a missing fifth-grader, residents in this town of 800 in far northern New Hampshire are absorbing the bitter news that there will be no happy ending now that divers have recovered the 11 year old's body from the Connecticut River. Residents and investigators alike hope to find answers about how Celina Cass came to be in the river nearly half a kilometre away from her home. Celina, who lived with her older sister, mother and stepfather a few kilometres from the Canadian border, was last seen at her home computer around 9pm on July 25 and was gone the next morning, authorities have said. Police said there was no sign of a struggle and there was no indication she ran away or someone took her. On Monday, the intense search came to an abrupt end when New Hampshire Fish and Game Department divers found her body near a hydroelectric dam that spans the Connecticut River between her hometown, Stewartstown, and Canaan, Senior Assistant Attorney-General Jane Young said. Community devastated "We're all very devastated," said Jeffry Pettit, whose daughter Kaylin was a friend of Celina's, after word that the body had been found. Based on what divers found, her death was described as suspicious, and investigators were treating the case as a criminal investigation pending autopsy results, Young said. At the peak, more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers descended upon Stewartstown, searching a nearly 2km wide area around her home, including woods and ponds. Law enforcement officers went so far as to have a cellphone tower erected to assist in communications. Fliers featuring pictures of Celina with a gap-toothed smile had been put up throughout Stewartstown and neighbouring communities. Residents passed out purple and pink ribbons and held vigils. No one was more baffled by Celina's disappearance than her friends and family, who described her as studious and reliable, shy and timid, not the type to run away from home. "People don't tend to think it's going to happen up here," said Karen Ramsey, of Lancaster, referring to the tight-knit, rural community. "It doesn't just happen in the city." According to several media outlets, Celina's stepfather was taken to a hospital on Monday.