A body found in Shenandoah National Park is believed to be that of a missing Virginia firefighter.
Nicole Mittendorff was last seen on April 13, but did not show up for work with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.
A search through the heavily wooded Shenandoah was called off Thursday after female remains were discovered more than a mile from where the 31-year-old's Mini Cooper was discovered in a parking lot last weekend, according to Virginia State Police.
The body will be taken to a medical examiner’s for an autopsy, though police have preliminary it as Mittendorff’s.
Find Nicole, a website set up by her family with hope that their loved one is still alive, confirmed that the missing woman was found. The relatives wrote that their “hearts are broken.”
Authorities had searched for Mittendorff in Shenandoah National Park after discovering her car at a parking lot in the forest. WUSA 9 News
Authorities said that she was found 330 yards away from a trail in “treacherous rocky terrain,” though spokeswoman Corinne Geller told the Daily News that a suicide note had been discovered in her car.
Geller said that foul play is not expected.
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