Celina Cass—Body Positively Identified, Death...

Eleven-year-old Celina Cass, missing from her Stewartstown, New Hampshire, home for a week, has been found dead. Her body was discovered earlier on Monday in the Connecticut River between Stewartstown and Canaan, Vermont. Authorities are calling the death suspicious.

According to a report from WHDH, Channel 7 in Boston, a press conference was held at 6:05 PM Monday, making the grim announcement. An autopsy is scheduled for 9 AM on Tuesday. Close to 500 tips from area individuals helped lead investigators to the dam where the little girl's body was found. The FBI says people in the region have been incredibly cooperative.

Since it had been announced earlier on Monday that a female body had been found less than a mile from Celina Cass's home, the media caught some bizarre behavior on behalf of the girl's stepfather on film. He was seen falling to the ground in the family's yardÂ—but it didn't really look like "falling." It was almost as if he laid on the ground after falling on his knees. After a few minutes he would stand up and repeat the process again. The stepfather, Wendell Noyes, has a history of mental illness and is said to be friendly with several sex offenders. An ambulance was finally called to the home, taking Noyes to the hospital. He was released later in the afternoon, however.

This is such a heartbreaking situation. Celina Cass was said to be quiet, shy, and never one to leave the house on her ownÂ—and certainly not at 9PM, the time she was last seen in her home.

Authorities are undoubtedly relying on the 500 tips that poured in from locals to proceed with this homicide investigation. It's not known yet if Celina Cass drowned or was dead when her body was put in the water. Hopefully her autopsy on Tuesday will provide the answers needed.