text: The woman missing from North Yarmouth works as a school teacher on Chebeague Island, where locals say they're devastated over her disappearance. 
   
   CHEBEAGUE ISLAND (WGME) -- The woman missing from North Yarmouth works as a school teacher on Chebeague Island, where locals say they're devastated over her disappearance. 
   
   Kristin Westra isn't a resident, but she might as well be. If locals dont know her personally, they know of her. It's a tight-knit community, one thats hurting as they wait for answers. 
   
   "I've never seen her miss a day since I've been here," said Scott Ehlers, who works as a parking attendant in the lot near the ferry terminal on Cousin's Island. 
   
   He said Westra, 47, is a regular. He checks her parking permit and she greets him with a smile. 
   
   "She goes over there everyday," Ehlers said. "Does her job. And everyone over there loves her." 
   
   Westra teaches third through fifth grades at the island's school, which is being renovated. The superintendent declined to speak on camera, but tells CBS 13 it's a very tough time and they want her to come home. 
   
   Fire Chief Ralph Munroe went to the mainland with seven others on Tuesday to help with the search effort. 
   
   "Everybody wants to do something and we're just fortunate enough to be able to help out in that manner," Munroe said. 
   
   Greta Morrissette heard the heartbreak is taking a toll, so she came over to lend a hand at the daycare where many of the teachers and kids know Westra. 
   
   "Just kinda be here," she said. "I brought bagels." 
   
   The Chebeague Island United Methodist Church is bringing islanders together in a similar way, by offering space for prayer and reflection. Earlier this week it hosted dinner for anyone struggling to make sense of Westra's disappearance. 
   
   "Everyone knows everyone and we all love and care for her as part of our beloved community," said Pastor Melissa Yosua-Davis. ||||| 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: ||||| The Senate officially confirmed Brett Kavanaugh Saturday as the next Supreme Court justice -- but the vote, like the controversial confirmation process, was anything but smooth. 
   
   Interested in Supreme Court? Add Supreme Court as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Supreme Court news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest 
   
   Protesters in the public viewing gallery regularly interrupted the vote, screaming "Shame! Shame! Shame!" and causing brief upsets in the roll call vote. 
   
   Vice President Mike Pence, who serves as the president of the Senate, had to repeatedly call for the sergeant at arms to restore order in the gallery. 
   
   "I do not consent! Where's my representation?" one female protester screamed before being forced out of the chamber. 
   
   APTN/AP 
   
   Kavanaugh was sworn in late Saturday by retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose spot on the court he will be taking, and current Supreme Court Judge John Roberts. 
   
   In the end, the vote came down as anticipated, with 50 votes in favor, 48 votes against, and 1 present, confirming Kavanaugh as the next justice in the highest court in the land. 
   
   Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, noted that she would like her vote to be marked as "present," in a logistical maneuver aimed to address the fact that another Republican, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, was unable to attend the vote because he is scheduled to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. 
   
   Daines wanted to vote in favor of Kavanaugh, so Murkowski paired her vote with his so they would cancel one another out -- she would have voted against Kavanaugh. 
   
   Senate TV via Reuters 
   
   President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the vote, congratulating the Senate and his nominee. 
   
   "I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court," he tweeted. "Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!" 
   
   I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2018 
   
   Kavanaugh and his wife were seen in a black SUV entering the Supreme Court to be sworn in Saturday night. 
   
   Cliff Owen/AP 
   
   The vote came after weeks of high-stakes political and human drama, as Kavanaugh defended himself against accusations of sexual misconduct. 
   
   The victory marked an instance of President Donald Trump following through on a key campaign promise to turn the court more conservative for generations. 
   
   Trump spoke briefly from the White House lawn before the Senate vote session started, saying that "in the end maybe the process, it was really unattractive, but the extra week was something that I think was really good. I thought it was really good. I think a lot of very positive things happened in the last week. It didn't look that way but in the end, that's what happened." 
   
   As for Kavanaugh, Trump said "he's going in looking really good." 
   
   Mark Wilson/Getty Images 
   
   White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump called Kavanaugh to congratulate him while onboard Air Force One as he headed to a campaign rally in Kansas. 
   
   Trump told reporters that his speech in Mississippi on Tuesday, days before the vote, had an effect on Kavanaugh's nomination. During that speech, Trump appeared to mock Christine Blasey Ford's testimony about her alleged assault at the hands of Kavanaugh. The judge has denied the accusations. 
   
   "I think the Mississippi speech had a great impact, yes. I think it was a very important thing," Trump said on the plane Saturday. 
   
   "He was chosen for the reason of his temperament, his incredible past, his outstanding years on the court. He’s had an outstanding record, a brilliant scholar, a totally brilliant scholar -- top -- and we’re very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible horrible attack by the Democrats," Trump said. 
   
   The drama of the vote tally 
   
   Kavanaugh's confirmation essentially became a done deal on Friday afternoon, when Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a key undecided vote, announced on the Senate floor that, despite allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him, "I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh." 
   
   Just hours earlier, with Kavanaugh's fate still uncertain, the full Senate had voted 51-49 to end debate and advance the nomination, after an additional FBI investigation seemed to turn up nothing to corroborate the allegations. 
   
   "This is not a criminal trial, and I do not believe that claims such as these need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt," Collins said in a lengthy speech defending her decision. 
   
   The Maine moderate Republican faced heavy political pressure, including from women who came from her home state and demanded that she side with Kavanaugh's chief accuser, Ford. 
   
   Collins' declaration of support for Kavanaugh was quickly followed by West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, another key undecided vote, who issued a statement saying he, too, would vote "yes," giving Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell the support he needed to get Kavanaugh confirmed, even if by one of the narrowest margins in history for a high court nominee. 
   
   Manchin, a red state Democrat in a close re-election fight, said that while he had "reservations' given the accusations, he did what was "best for West Virginia," persuaded Kavanaugh will "follow the Constitution." Protesters shouted "shame" at him as he tried to board an elevator near his office. 
   
   Ford's attorneys said their client has no regrets. 
   
   "I think she feels good about the fact that she came forward and did what she felt strongly was her civic duty to do, which is to provide the information she had to the Judiciary Committee so that they could make a better decision -- a more informed decision," her attorney Lisa Banks told ABC News' Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce. 
   
   When asked if Ford will ever be able to live a normal life again, her lawyer seemed optimistic. 
   
   "She's going to go back to teaching. She loves being a teacher. She's very good at it," attorney Debra Katz said. "And she's looking forward to getting back to her family and her friends and her job. And we continue this fight, we continue to look for corroborating evidence against Judge Kavanaugh." 
   
   ABC News' Trish Turner and Jeffrey Cook contributed to this report.
target: – 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."