Missing Teacher's Body Pulled From Bayou

A body pulled from a New Orleans bayou on the weekend has been positively IDed as that of Terrilynn Monette, a 26-year-old teacher who went missing almost three months ago, CNN reports. Monette's body was found decomposing inside her car at the bottom of Bayou St. John. The coroner says drowning was the cause of death and there were no signs of trauma to her body, the Times-Picayune reports.

Monette was last seen leaving a bar where she was celebrating a "Teacher of the Year" award nomination with friends, reports CNN. She had been drinking, and told her friends she planned to sleep in her car before driving home, adds the Times-Picayune. "Now that Ms. Monette's car has been found, we begin the second phase of this investigation," says a police spokesperson. "Both homicide detectives and our fatality unit were on the scene today, so that they can pick up where [other] officers have left off and start finding out exactly how and why the car ended up where it did." (More Terrilynn Monette stories.)