EMPORIA, Kan. (WIBW) – An Emporia schoolteacher’s death in January has been ruled accidental and the result of hypothermia, KVOE Radio reports.
The teacher, Rebecca Rauber, 28, was found dead in a wooded area near W. 4th Avenue and West Street on Sunday, Jan. 25.
Rauber had stopped briefly late the night of Friday, Jan. 23, at the Town Royal bar, 405 Commercial St. in downtown Emporia, before walking west in frigid conditions, according to Emporia police.
Emporia teacher Rebecca Rauber, 28, died of hypothermia in January, KVOE Radio reports.(KS Missing)
Following her disappearance, loved ones said in a Facebook post that Rauber had left her phone, keys, jacket and purse at the bar.
Subzero wind chills were reported that weekend.
Rauber’s body was found two days later in the wooded area on the souith side of Emporia, following heavy snow that fell in the area on Saturday, Jan. 24.
When she was found, officials said, Rauber’s body was covered in snow in a wooded area near the 700 block of W. 4th Avenue, about seven blocks west of the bar.
Wind chills were below zero on the night Rauber left the bar and there was snow across Emporia that weekend.
Rauber was a second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Emporia.
A prayer service was held on Monday, Jan. 26, at an Emporia church to honor Rauber.
The Emporia Police Department announcerd this week that it has closed its investigation into Rauber’s death.
According to KVOE, a news release from the Emporia Police Department said Rauber died from hypothermia, with the death listed as accidental.
The police department said there were no indications of foul play in Rauber’s death.
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