BODY FOUND MAY BE MISSING GIRL

CARUTHERSVILLE -- A decomposed body discovered on Thanksgiving could be that of an 11-year-old girl who has been missing since August, the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department said.

About 1:30 p.m., a deputy sheriff on a hunting trip discovered a body southeast of Caruthersville in a tree row, between two fields, Sheriff Tommy Greenwell said.

Positive identification has not yet been made; however, the sheriff said it may be possible that it is the body of Koesha Rodgers, who has been missing from her home in Caruthersville since Aug. 22."It was a small body, maybe a child's body," said Chris Cooley, communications officer for the sheriff's department. "And that's the only child we have missing."The investigation is being conducted by the state Highway Patrol, Pemiscot Sheriff's office and an FBI forensics team from St. Louis, Greenwell said.

Authorities began searching for Keosha after she was reported missing at 4 a.m. Sunday. Law enforcement authorities and private citizens searched Monday for the child who was reported missing from the family's apartment in Caruthersville by her mother, Sheryl Crowely.