The discovery came more than three months after Monette disappeared after leaving a Lakeview bar early on March 2. Drowning was the cause of death for Terrilynn Monette, the missing West Bank teacher whose body was discovered in Bayou St. John on Saturday, according to the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office. "Now that Ms. Monette's car has been found, we begin the second phase of this investigation," Serpas said. The diver who found the car and body, Slidell Police Officer Mark Michaud, has been "working closely with the Monette family" because of his expertise in diving recoveries, police Detective Daniel Seuzeneau said. Monette, a second-grade teacher at Woodland West Elementary School in Harvey, exited a bank parking lot next door to Parlay's at about 5 a.m. and headed toward Marconi Drive.
– A body pulled from a New Orleans bayou on the weekend has been positively IDed as that of Terrilynn Monette, a 26-year-old teacher who went missing almost three months ago, CNN reports. Monette's body was found decomposing inside her car at the bottom of Bayou St. John. The coroner says drowning was the cause of death and there were no signs of trauma to her body, the Times-Picayune reports. Monette was last seen leaving a bar where she was celebrating a "Teacher of the Year" award nomination with friends, reports CNN. She had been drinking, and told her friends she planned to sleep in her car before driving home, adds the Times-Picayune. "Now that Ms. Monette's car has been found, we begin the second phase of this investigation," says a police spokesperson. "Both homicide detectives and our fatality unit were on the scene today, so that they can pick up where [other] officers have left off and start finding out exactly how and why the car ended up where it did."