BRONZEVILLE — A body pulled from Lake Michigan Monday has been identified as Linda Brown, the Bronzeville teacher who disappeared over a week ago, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
Brown’s body was found Monday morning in the 3100 block of South DuSable Lake Shore Drive, nearly two-and-a-half miles from her home near the 4500 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. The Healy Elementary special education teacher went missing from her home Jan. 3.
Days after Brown’s disappearance, police located her blue 2021 Honda Civic near 35th Street and Lake Park Avenue, but authorities shared few additional details at the time. Brown was believed to be headed to a routine acupuncture appointment in Wicker Park, but she never made it, according to a statement from the Chicago Teachers Union.
CBS2 reported that Brown, 53, was seen on video arriving at the location where her car was found, exiting her car and heading over a nearby pedestrian bridge to the lakefront.
A cause of death has not been released by the medical examiner’s office.
“This is not the outcome we were hoping or praying for, but we are grateful that she has been found and can now be brought home to our family,” Brown’s family said in a statement to the Chicago Tribune.
Brown’s husband previously told CBS2 that she was seeking help for mental health challenges that had worsened as winter break neared its end. He said he last saw her Jan. 2, when they watched a movie before bed. Brown was gone by the time he awoke the following morning, he told CBS2.
Neighbor and fellow 46th Street & Vincennes Block Club and Community Garden member J.P. Paulus told Block Club that Brown was a warm, generous person willing to pitch in whenever she was needed. Paulus recalled Brown and her husband helped put up Christmas arches around the neighborhood.
“She’d give candy to the neighborhood kids. She was definitely a person willing to help,” Paulus said.
Healy Elementary principal Erin Kamradt sent an email to the school community notifying students, staff and parents of Brown’s death, the Tribune reported.
Rene Lopez, a former middle-school student of Brown’s when she taught at another CPS school, told ABC7 she “made us believe in a sense of hope. She just created a sense of community, a safe space within her classroom.”
In a statement shared Monday on social media, Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former CPS teacher, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of Brown’s death.
“As a special education teacher at Healy Elementary she made an immeasurable impact on countless young lives and was a vital member of the Bridgeport community. I’m praying for her family, and for her students as they grieve and remember Linda and all the joy she brought,” Johnson said.
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