In Danvers, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, all seven schools were shut down on Wednesday after a teacher’s body was found behind a high school. The teacher, Colleen Ritzer, was reported missing on Tuesday, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office. She did not come home from work that day, and was not answering phone calls. Her body was then found on Wednesday in the woods behind Danvers High School, and blood was discovered in one of the bathrooms of the school.
District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett says that a 14-year-old high school student, Philip Chism, will be arraigned on a murder charge. The student also went missing on Tuesday, but was seen walking along a road in a nearby town in the middle of the night. Authorities say they had sufficient evidence to charge Chism with the murder. “Based on his statements and the corroborating evidence found at multiple scenes at … Danvers High School and surrounding wooded area, the juvenile was subsequently placed into custody and booked for murder,” said the criminal complaint.
Blodgett commented that Ritzer “was a very, very respected, loved teacher,” and he described the situation as a “terrible tradgedy.”
