Missing New Hampshire girl's body found in river

STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. -- The body of an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl who disappeared almost a week ago was discovered Monday in a river less than half a mile from her home, authorities said. The death was being considered suspicious.

Celina Cass was reported missing July 26. Divers found her body late Monday morning near a hydroelectric dam that spans the Connecticut River between Stewartstown and Canaan, Vt., and removed it from the river Monday evening, said New Hampshire senior assistant attorney general Jane Young.

"We have brought Celina home, obviously not the way we wanted to bring her home," said Young, her voice breaking with emotion.

Authorities had said that Celina, who lived with her older sister, mother and stepfather a mile from the Canadian border, was last seen at a computer around 9 p.m. on July 25 and was gone the next morning. Police said there was no sign of a struggle, and there was no indication she ran away or that someone took her.

Young declined to say whether there are any suspects in the girl's death. "We have made no determination on where her body was eventually put in the river," she said.

An autopsy was scheduled for today to determine the cause and manner of death.

Cass's disappearance drew more than 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officers to Stewartstown, a town of 800 residents. Because of its remote location, law enforcement officers went so far as to have a cellphone tower erected to assist in communications.

State police and FBI agents from as far away as New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia turned the local school into a bustling command post and searched a mile-wide area around the home. The FBI brought in a special team specializing in child abductions.