Wednesday March 28, 2012

ST. JOHNSBURY (AP) -- The Vermont prep school teacher whose toddler was found alone in her idling SUV over the weekend was killed, a medical examiner ruled Tuesday as an autopsy confirmed a body found along an isolated stretch of road was indeed hers.

Melissa Jenkins' exact cause of death was not released so as not to inhibit the investigation, authorities said. Police did not say whether they had a suspect in their sights, and detectives returned Tuesday to the area where the body was found to collect more evidence.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Ms. Jenkins, and our thoughts are with her family and friends," said the lead investigator, State Police Maj. Ed Ledo. "We remain committed to solving this case and to identify and bring to justice the person or persons responsible for the death of Ms. Jenkins."

Community members are speculating who could have killed the single mother and anxiously awaiting an arrest.

"I just hope they find whoever did it," said a tearful Marion Beattie Cairns, who owns The Creamery Restaurant in Danville, where Jenkins had worked as a waitress at night. "Her little boy -- that's what breaks my heart right now."

A shrine to the 33-year-old science teacher at the prestigious St. Johnsbury Academy was set up in the entry to a main building at the school, a boarding school also serves as the public high school for St. Johnsbury, a town of about 6,200 about 40 miles south

Between 100 and 200 students and faculty members gathered at the academy Monday night after the news came out that a body had been found. Classes were canceled Tuesday.

"They have a range of emotions, just like me," headmaster Tom Lovett said Tuesday of his students. "I'm done with the numbness and I'm done with the confusion; there's a lot of sadness and a lot of anger starting to arise."

Students were writing letters to Jenkins' 2-year-old-son, Tyrell Javon Robertson, known as Ty, so he could eventually know how she had changed their lives, Lovett said.

Excerpt from:
Coroner says prep school teacher was killed, but not how