NORTH YARMOUTH — Children playing in the woods Friday morning discovered a woman’s body less than half a mile from the home of missing teacher Kristin Westra. 
 
 Police said they could not confirm that the woman was Westra and were awaiting positive identification from the state Medical Examiner’s Office before releasing more information. However, Westra’s husband, Jay Westra, posted publicly on his Facebook page shortly after police announced a body had been found: “My heart was crushed today.” 
 
 Related Headlines Missing teacher sought help for anxiety the day before she disappeared, husband says 
 
 The autopsy likely will take place over the weekend, said Capt. Craig Smith of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. He would not say who found the body or disclose any information about its discovery near a house on Gray Road about 10:30 a.m. Friday. A man who lives at the house said that his grandchildren had found it. 
 
 Several cars were parked at the Westra home on Lufkin Road on Friday afternoon. One man told a reporter, “As you can imagine, we’re all in shock, and we’re not going to be saying anything right now.” 
 
 A group of Kristin Westra’s friends and co-workers at the Chebeague Island School who had gathered in Yarmouth on Friday also said they didn’t want to talk. “Things are still so raw,” one woman said. 
 
 Westra was last seen Sunday night and police, wardens and volunteers had been searching the area around her home since Monday, when her husband woke up and discovered that she had left, without her car or cellphone. 
 
 Jay Westra later said in an interview with NBC News that his wife was experiencing anxiety and had a safety “assessment“ Sunday before she disappeared from their home. She was under a lot of stress from renovations at the school where she taught and also at home, which she shared with her husband, their daughter and his son. 
 
 “Sunday morning, Kristin was experiencing what I would call some anxiety and she expressed that she had some sleepless nights and was worried,” Jay Westra said. 
 
 Searchers spent Tuesday and Wednesday bushwhacking through thick trees and brush in a roughly 1.5-mile radius around the Westras’ home. 
 
 The active search parties were reduced Thursday but continued throughout the day. The search resumed Friday morning with several K-9 teams and then officials converged on the house on Gray Road, or Route 115, which runs almost parallel to Lufkin Road, with a large tract of woods in between. 
 
 On Friday night, Ed Gervais, who lives in the house, said his grandchildren had found the body in the woods. He was at work at the time, but said his wife, Joyce, was at home. 
 
 Asked if his grandchildren were all right, Gervais said, “I hope so” before declining to comment further. 
 
 Crime scene tape was in front of his house during the day, but officials would not say whether the body was found on that property, which was within the 1.5-mile radius of the Westras’ home on Lufkin Road. 
 
 On Wednesday, the Maine Warden Service had said that the search had “eliminated with high probability” that Westra was within the search zone scoured by wardens, police and dogs. Asked Friday night about how searchers might have missed Westra’s body in that sweep, Smith said in an email “that question has been asked and it is being researched.” 
 
 Kristin Westra’s brother, Eric Rohrbach, has described his sister as an early riser and as someone who is active and fit, and that leaving the home without telling anyone or having a way to communicate was deeply out of character for her. 
 
 Jay Westra said Kristin was not on any medication, and said he would have supported her if she said she needed some time away. After the visit with a medical professional Sunday, Kristin had planned to have blood work done Monday. She also had a plan to return to her usual running and yoga – activities that had been disrupted by the start of school and the renovation project at their home – and to make slight changes to her diet and her sleep patterns. 
 
 “She told me she felt better. We had a plan,” Jay Westra said. “Kristin is a person who when she has a plan, she sticks to the plan and she follows through and she does things well, every time.” 
 
 A candlelight vigil had been planned for Westra at the Congregational Church in Cumberland on Saturday at 5 p.m. It wasn’t clear late Friday afternoon whether that would still happen. 
 
 Staff writer Mary Pols contributed to this report. 
 
 Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at: 
 
 [email protected] 
 
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 filed under: ||||| NORTH YARMOUTH — The mysterious disappearance of a 47-year-old elementary school teacher has sent her family and friends reeling as teams of detectives descended on her rural neighborhood Tuesday and volunteers helped search the densely wooded area near her North Yarmouth home. 
 
 Kristin Westra, a teacher at Chebeague Island School, was last seen at the family’s home on Lufkin Road when she went to bed with her husband, Jay, around 8 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. 
 
 She was nowhere to be found when her husband woke up Monday morning, although her vehicle, cellphone and keys were still at home, a family member and police said. 
 
 Jay Westra drove to the nearby North Yarmouth Fire Department on Walnut Hill Road around 9 a.m. Monday to report his wife missing, according to Lt. Mark Holmquist of the Maine State Police. 
 
 Holmquist said the search for Westra was suspended around 6 p.m. Tuesday partly due to weather conditions and because of information detectives gathered Tuesday during their investigation. Holmquist said the search for Westra might not resume Wednesday. 
 
 The search “is tentative at this point based on the information that has come into us,” Holmquist said during a telephone interview Tuesday night from the fire station on Walnut Hill Road. “The weather has been difficult to deal with and it is part of the equation, for sure.” 
 
 Holmquist declined to elaborate on why the search might not continue Wednesday other than to say that teams have scoured “a very large coverage area.” He said it is “too soon” to say that Westra’s disappearance is suspicious. 
 
 Fourteen detectives from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the state police spent Tuesday chasing down tips, interviewing friends and relatives and probing into Westra’s life and background in hopes of uncovering information that could lead to her whereabouts. 
 
 AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF STRESS 
 
 Near the family’s home on Lufkin Road, game wardens and civilian volunteers trekked through steady rain Tuesday, fanning out in grid searches and with dogs or riding ATVs looking for any sign of Westra. 
 
 Her brother, Eric Rohrbach, said police have theorized that Westra was not thinking clearly and for some reason felt the need to leave her home. But Westra has no history of mental health diagnoses, her brother said, and had an aversion to taking medications such as sleeping pills that may have altered her mood or ability to think rationally. 
 
 “It’s incredibly surreal. It’s something out of a nightmare,” said Rohrbach, 45, of New Gloucester. “It’s a horrible situation to think that she’s immobilized somewhere in the woods. But there’s a huge party searching for her.” 
 
 Police have not released information about why she would be missing, and it was not clear Tuesday if any specific information led them to search the wooded area near her home. Police also used search dogs to look for evidence in her house. 
 
 Westra has a 9-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old stepson. She’s known as an early riser and as someone who is active and fit, her brother said, but for her to leave the home without telling anyone or having a way to communicate is deeply out of character for her. 
 
 Rohrback said he talks with his sister regularly and was surprised when she didn’t return his phone call Sunday. Then, on Monday morning, he learned of her disappearance. 
 
 Rohrbach said his sister was under an unusual amount of stress. 
 
 The Chebeague Island School where Westra teaches is being remodeled, making it difficult for her to be as effective in her job, Rohrbach said. And she faced similar stresses at home, he said, where the Westra family home was also undergoing major renovations to the entire first floor. 
 
 “When she comes home, (the family members) don’t have a place to relax.” Rohrbach said. “They were like eating dinner in the garage. Kristin is someone who likes to come home and curl up with a book, and she couldn’t do that.” 
 
 Detective Sgt. Scott Harriman of the state police said authorities are interviewing the contractor who was working at the home. But police have said there is nothing to lead them to believe foul play is involved. 
 
 Rohrbach said there were no indications his sister intended to leave the home Monday morning. She had plans to see friends and had a doctor’s appointment on Monday. 
 
 But there was some indication that something was bothering her Sunday night, he said. Although Westra was usually a sound sleeper, Rohrbach said her husband told him that she was restless and had trouble sleeping. Jay Westra also told Rohrbach that he believed she got up before dawn Monday morning. 
 
 Family members and police think she may have walked out of the house, he said. 
 
 “It was raining and she left without her keys, without her car, without her phone. And we think she was wearing flip-flops,” Rohrbach said. “She does a lot of yoga and she does a lot of running, but she doesn’t do it at that time of night. And if she did, the Kristin I know would have told Jay or brought her phone.” 
 
 Rohrbach also said it was hard to imagine that Westra would have taken any sleep medications, some of which are known in some cases to cause behavior such as sleepwalking. He said he was told by Jay Westra that there is no such sleep medication in the home. 
 
 “She’s not on any medications,” he said, and resists taking them. 
 
 AN EXTENSIVE SEARCH 
 
 The large-scale search began Monday night in the Lufkin Road area, which is crossed by a power line corridor and surrounded by woodlands. 
 
 Regan Goan, a commander with the Cumberland County Emergency Management Unit of the Sheriff’s Office, said the search had covered more than 20 miles as of late Tuesday morning. 
 
 At least 50 police and civilian volunteers were involved in the search just after noon, said Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Stewart. 
 
 Teams gathered at the North Yarmouth Fire House on Walnut Hill Road before they split up and set off on grid searches of the area. Civilians wearing hiking gear and blaze orange joined police in green military-style fatigues. 
 
 Police officers led a search dog into Westra’s home early Tuesday afternoon, and dog teams were working to help comb the area nearby. 
 
 The house sits only a short distance from the road, but the property and the surrounding area are densely wooded. Less than a quarter-mile from the home, Lufkin Road turns to dirt and the woods end, giving way to a massive open corridor with three sets of parallel high tension power lines. 
 
 Wardens and police actively focused on this open area near the power lines, where the grass and scrub are knee-high and the rolling terrain is accessible by ATV trails. 
 
 FELLOW TEACHERS FILLING IN 
 
 Westra teaches students in grades 3-5 at Chebeague Island School, according to the school’s principal, Michael Pulsifer, who also doubles as the district’s superintendent. Pulsifer noted that Chebeague Island is no longer affiliated with SAD 51, having broken away from the district 11 years ago. 
 
 Teachers and students who live on the mainland, such as Westra, have to take the ferry every day to reach the school, which serves pre-kindergarten through grade five students. Twenty-five students attend the Chebeague Island School. 
 
 Pulsifer said he is in close contact with students and parents regarding Westra’s disappearance. Other teachers have been filling in during her absence. 
 
 “We’re ever hopeful that Kristin will be found safe. We are keeping the faith,” Pulsifer said Tuesday night. 
 
 A profile of Westra posted on the Chebeague Island School’s website says she grew up in Burlington, Vermont. She experienced island life at an early age, spending her summers at her family’s camp in North Hero in the Lake Champlain islands. 
 
 She attended the University of Vermont, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, with a minor in German. Westra comes from a long line of educators, including her mother and several other family members, according to her profile. 
 
 After teaching in Vermont for two years, Westra moved to Portland. “The opening for island teacher intrigued Kristin and it continues to do so,” the profile said. 
 
 Her hobbies include: cooking, travel, running, and swimming. This school year would be her eighth year teaching on Chebeague Island. 
 
 Westra has brown hair and brown eyes, weighs around 140 pounds, and is 5 feet 10 inches tall. Police are not sure what she was wearing at the time of her disappearance. 
 
 Anyone who was driving or walking in the North Yarmouth area late Sunday or early Monday morning and saw anything that might be helpful has been asked to contact state police at 624-7076 or the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at 893-2810. 
 
 Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at: 
 
 [email protected] 
 
 Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: 
 
 [email protected] 
 
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 filed under: ||||| A Maine teacher and mom of two vanished from her home late Sunday or early Monday and her husband says he awoke to discover her gone and her phone, car and keys left behind at their home in a rural area of North Yarmouth, PEOPLE confirms. 
 
 Asked if authorities suspect foul play in the mysterious disappearance of 47-year-old Kristin Westra, an elementary teacher at Chebeague Island School, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Scott Stewart tells PEOPLE, “We’re not leaning in that direction. Usually we would have found her by now.” 
 
 “There’s a lot we don’t know,” Stewart says. “Usually we’ll have a better idea to lead us in one direction or another, but unfortunately right now we can’t rule one avenue out as opposed to another.” 
 
 Jay Westra, Kristin’s husband, said he last saw his wife about 8 p.m. Sunday when the two went to bed at their home, which sits on a wooded lot along Lufkin Road home in North Yarmouth, about 14 miles north of Portland, according to authorities. 
 
 When Jay awoke the next morning, Kristin was nowhere to be found, police said. 
 
 “It is not known if she has a vehicle or why she would be missing,” the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said in a missing-persons alert. 
 
 Authorities also aren’t sure when Kristin left her home, what clothes she was wearing, where she might have been headed or why or if she was wearing shoes. 
 
 Says Capt. Stewart: “We don’t have a lot to go on, is the problem.” 
 
 Authorities search for missing Kristin Westra in North Yarmouth, Maine Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty 
 
 Authorities search for missing Kristin Westra in North Yarmouth, Maine Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty 
 
 The “complicated search” of the surrounding area, which is wooded with heavy undergrowth, was further obstructed by “very foul weather” on Tuesday, Stewart says. 
 
 About 70 searchers — including those with the Maine State Police and civilians with the Maine Association for Search and Rescue aided by trained dogs — have covered about two miles around Kristin’s home since she was reported missing by her husband about 9 a.m. Monday. 
 
 Although the family has neighbors, the homes are several hundred feet apart, Scott says. 
 
 Kristin’s brother, Eric Rohrbach, said she did not have a history of mental illness and did not take medications that might have altered her behavior, although authorities offered a theory that she may not have been thinking clearly and believed she needed to flee her residence, reports the Portland Press Herald. 
 
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 “It’s incredibly surreal. It’s something out of a nightmare,” Rohrbach said, according to the newspaper. “It’s a horrible situation to think that she’s immobilized somewhere in the woods. But there’s a huge party searching for her.” 
 
 He said his sister — who has a 9-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old stepson — recently dealt with the twin stresses of ongoing remodeling and renovation at both her school and the family’s home. 
 
 “When she comes home, [they] don’t have a place to relax,” Rohrbach told the Press Herald. “They were like eating dinner in the garage. Kristin is someone who likes to come home and curl up with a book, and she couldn’t do that.” 
 
 Authorities search for missing Kristin Westra in North Yarmouth, Maine Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty 
 
 Kristin had plans with friends and a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Monday, her brother said. But her husband told Rorbach that she was restless trying to sleep Sunday night, Rorbach said. 
 
 Police surmise she may have just walked out of her house. 
 
 “It was raining and she left without her keys, without her car, without her phone. And we think she was wearing flip-flops,” Rohrbach said, according to the Press Herald. “She does a lot of yoga and she does a lot of running, but she doesn’t do it at that time of night. And if she did, the Kristin I know would have told Jay or brought her phone.” 
 
 Kristin is 5-foot-10-inches tall, weighing about 140 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes. 
 
 Any sightings or information should be shared with state police at 207-624-7076 or the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at 207-893-2810.
– Kids playing in the woods Friday stumbled on a body near the home of a missing Maine schoolteacher, the Portland Press Herald reports. A search team was scouring the area around the house of Kristin Westra—who apparently vanished Monday, leaving behind her car and cellphone—when children made the find within 1.5 miles of her house. Police are waiting for the Medical Examiner's Office to make positive identification, but husband Jay Westra didn't hold back: "My heart was crushed today," he posted on Facebook. Jay says his 47-year-old wife was under considerable stress from renovations at home and at Chebeague School, where she taught, and had undergone a safety "assessment" the day she disappeared. "Sunday morning, Kristin was experiencing what I would call some anxiety and she expressed that she had some sleepless nights and was worried," says Jay. A team of police, volunteers, and wardens had searched a 1.5-mile radius around the Westras Lufkin Rd. home on Tuesday and Wednesday, reduced the team size Thursday, and added K-9 teams Friday—but may have missed the body in their sweep. Asked how, Capt. Craig Smith says, "That question has been asked and it is being researched." The body was found 500 to 600 feet from a rural road, per ABC News. Meanwhile, locals tell WGME they're having a tough time over the elementary school teacher's disappearance. "Just kinda be there," says a woman who visited distraught students at Kristin's school. "I brought bagels."