This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. to include new information about the discovery of a body during the search.
Members of the Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team located a body during an expanded search for a Middlebury College student who’s been missing nearly a week.
Lia Smith, 21, from Woodside, California, was last seen on campus Friday night, Oct. 17, according to Vermont State Police.
As the search for Smith intensified on Thursday, police said a body was discovered in a field west of campus around 1:30 p.m., according to a Thursday evening press release. The location is in the town of Cornwall near the Knoll, the college’s organic farm.
Vermont State Police are withholding the identity of the deceased individual until after an autopsy is performed. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington is expected to perform the autopsy on Friday to confirm identity and determine the cause and manner of death.
An initial investigation does not indicate the death was suspicious, police said.
State police are leading the death investigation with assistance from the Middlebury Police Department and are coordinating with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
Law enforcement agencies, including VSP, Middlebury Police and state game wardens, began a "comprehensive search" in and around Middlebury on Thursday morning, state police said in an earlier press release. The FBI and New York State Police also provided assistance, according to VSP.
Middlebury Police had also conducted “numerous aerial searches” using drones, gone through wooded areas on and near Middlebury College, and asked the school’s staff to search campus facilities.
“We will do everything we can to find Lia. She is a beloved member of our Middlebury family and there is nothing more important than the health, safety, and wellbeing of our students and of our entire community,” Middlebury College officials said in a written statement on Monday.
VSP and Middlebury Police expressed gratitude on Thursday evening to the government agencies, college personnel and volunteers for aiding in search efforts.
Police are asking anyone with information that could help in the case to call the Vermont State Police barracks in New Haven at 802-388-4919 or send an anonymous tip at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
