Jay Westra told NBC that the return of his wife, Kristin Westra, a teacher at Chebeague Island School in Maine, was his focus Ed. note: According to multiple reports, police searching for missing Maine elementary school teacher Kristin Westra found a body on Friday deep in the woods behind her home, though they did not say whether they believe it is her. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Capt. Craig Smith of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s office told the Portland Press Herald that authorities have suspended their search for Westra as they investigate the body, which he did not indicate was a man or a woman. The state medical examiner’s office is working to identify the body, the paper reports. PEOPLE’s call to the sheriff’s office or the medical examiner were not immediately returned. A Maine elementary school teacher and mother of two who vanished from her home earlier this week appeared anxious and worried, complaining of sleeplessness, on the day she was last seen, according to her husband. On Wednesday, in an interview with NBC News about the disappearance of wife Kristin Westra, Jay Westra said her return was his focus. “Kristin, no matter what, come home,” Jay implored, speaking directly to the woman he referred to as the love of his life and a “rock” in their family. He told NBC that on Sunday morning she “was experiencing what I would call some anxiety and she expressed that she had some sleepless nights and was worried.” A friend who is a nurse practitioner came to evaluate her and raised no concerns, Jay said, and the rest of the day unfolded as normal. The couple went to bed about 8 p.m. Sunday. But Kristin, 47-year-old teacher at Chebeague Island School, was gone when Jay awoke on Monday — leaving behind her phone, car and keys at their North Yarmouth residence. Jay reported her missing soon after. Authorities have been searching for Kristin since Monday, using drones and a number of canine units. They told PEOPLE that while they were investigating all possible avenues in Kristin’s disappearance, they were not “leaning in [the] direction” of foul play. kristin-westra Kristin Westra | Credit: Facebook 20181002_missing_0146.jpg Searchers look for missing teacher Kristin Westra in North Yarmouth, Maine | Credit: Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty According to Kristin’s brother, Eric Rohrbach, investigators have said it’s possible she was not in her right state of mind when she decided to leave for some reason, the Portland Press Herald reports. Addressing his wife in his NBC interview, Jay said, “There’s nothing — there’s no problem, no embarrassment, no obstacle, that can’t be overcome when you come back.” “We’ve always taken care of everything, we’ve solved every problem,” he said. “We’re a team, we will be a team, your daughter loves you, your friends love you, your parents love you, your brother and sister-in-law love you, aunts and uncles, everybody wants you back.” Jay told NBC he could not be sure what his wife may have been wearing when she vanished. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. “I know that the raincoat she usually wears was in her car,” he said. “The only thing that was unusual was the garage door. The back entrance was slightly open, about three inches, and truthfully, that’s something that the latch catches every once in while and the door doesn’t go all the way shut. So that may be a way she left the building. Our front door is noisier, and she may have left the back door, not trying to wake anyone up. She’s a thoughtful person and if we were asleep, she would not want to wake us up.” Jay, a pediatric oncology nurse, was asked if he thought his wife could have been abducted. “She is a strong, powerful person and I would’ve heard something,” he said. “I can’t imagine a scenario where somebody would be able to take her from the house without noise and without a fight.” Jay told NBC that he wants to do everything he can to find his wife — “everything else is secondary.” “I don’t personally care about my situation right now. My situation is secondary, my feelings are secondary,” he said. “My primary thing is the return of Kristin to me and her family. … I don’t care what people think. I don’t care what people gossip. That’s a non-issue, a non-thought to me, I only have one thought.” 20181002_missing_0623.jpg Searchers look for missing teacher Kristin Westra in North Yarmouth, Maine | Credit: Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Rohrbach, Kristin’s brother, previously told the Press Herald that his sister — who has a 9-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old stepson — had been dealing with stress both at home and school, as both were undergoing major renovations. “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.” Jay confirmed in Wednesday’s interview that his wife was not on any medications. Kristin is described as having brown hair and brown eyes. She weighs around 140 lbs. and stands 5-foot-10-inches tall.<doc-sep>Police say they have found a body in North Yarmouth near a farmhouse on Gray Road a mile from the home of the missing woman, Kristin Westra. NORTH YARMOUTH (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Police say they have found a body in North Yarmouth near a farmhouse on Gray Road a mile from the home Kristin Westra who has been missing for five days. The body was found 500 to 600 yards behind the North Yarmouth farmhouse at 83 Gray Road, but police say they can not identify the person yet and are continuing to investigate the death. However, Jay Westra, the husband of Kristin, took to Facebook to say to say he was "crushed". The body was found 500 to 600 yards behind the North Yarmouth farmhouse, but police say they can not identify the person yet and are continuing to investigate the death. The search for the missing mother and elementary teacher, Kristin Westra went into its fifth day in North Yarmouth, and multiple agencies were outside a home at 83 Gray Road Friday. Westra had been missing since Sunday. Her husband, Jay Westra, said he went to bed Sunday night with his wife, but Kristin was nowhere to be found when he awoke. Missing North Yarmouth teacher and mother Kirstin Westra 1/8 2/8 3/8 4/8 5/8 6/8 7/8 8/8 1 / 8 Police have received hundreds of tips as community members and strangers have been searching for Westra. On Thursday police said they had received a credible tip of a possible sighting of the mother of two, but by evening they had ruled out that Westra had been seen. Authorities said Westra was not on any medications, and her husband, Jay Westra, echoed this sentiment in his interview with NBC News, saying, since he's known her, she's only taken ibuprofen. Her brother Eric Rohrbach said that Westra had been under stress and was not sleeping well. Tammy Drew Hoidal teaches with Westra at Chebegue Island School and told NEWS CENTER Maine Westra had been under a lot of stress because of renovations going on at her home and at the school. A neighbor's surveillance footage showed Westra, who is an avid runner, returning home from a jog around 6 p.m. Sunday evening but authorities said the footage captured no other images of Westra after the 6 p.m. appearance. Westra left behind her phone, keys, wallet and her car.<doc-sep>
The husband of a missing elementary school teacher said his “heart was crushed” Friday as investigators found a body in a wooded area behind the couple’s home in Maine, authorities said. “My heart was crushed today,” Jay Westra wrote in a Facebook post with a picture of himself and his wife, Kristin. Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Craig Smith would not indicate whether investigators believe the body is that of Kristin Westra, 47, although the search for the missing teacher had been suspended after the find to focus on the discovery, the Portland Press Herald reports. Authorities later said the body was female. The grim discovery was made on the fifth day of searching for Westra, who disappeared from her North Yarmouth home overnight Sunday after telling her husband earlier that day that she was experiencing anxiety after several sleepless nights, he told NBC News. Jay Westra, a pediatric oncology nurse, said he then contacted a licensed clinical nurse practitioner, who saw his wife later that afternoon. He later noticed her missing from their bed at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, but assumed she had left to sleep in another room. After showering, Westra said, he started to “really worry” after noticing his wife had vanished from their home, leaving her keys, purse, phone and car behind. Investigators said Thursday that Westra was cooperating with authorities. No one answered the door at the family’s home Friday, the newspaper reports. The state medical examiner’s office is working to identify the body. Crime scene tape was placed around a home early Friday on Gray Road, but authorities declined to indicate what role, if any, the home played in the investigation.