NEED TO KNOW
- Linda Brown, who was last seen on Jan. 3, was found dead on Monday, Jan. 12
- Authorities pulled Brown’s body from Lake Michigan, her family confirmed
- The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office also confirmed Brown’s death in a statement to PEOPLE
Linda Brown, the missing Chicago area special education teacher, has been found dead, officials said. Brown was 53.
A woman’s body was pulled from Lake Michigan on the morning of Monday, Jan. 12. The Chicago Police Department’s marine unit recovered the body underwater near the 3100 block of South Lake Shore Drive on Chicago’s South Side, ABC 7 Chicago reports.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Brown
The woman was identified as Brown, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told PEOPLE on Jan. 12. A cause of death has yet to be determined as an autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 13.
“Today, Linda’s body was found in the 31st Street Harbor along the Chicago lakefront. This is not the outcome we were hoping or praying for, but we are grateful that she has been found and can now be brought home to our family,” Brown’s family said in a statement to Fox 32 Chicago. They went on to thank supporters and asked for privacy.
“I am deeply saddened by the news of Linda Brown’s passing,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “As a special education teacher at Healy Elementary she made an immeasurable impact on countless young lives and was a vital member of the Bridgeport community. I’m praying for her family, and for her students as they grieve and remember Linda and all the joy she brought.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the Cook County Medical Examiner and the Chicago Police Department.
Brown was last seen on Saturday, Jan. 3, in the area of the 4500 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to a missing persons bulletin that has since been removed from the Chicago Police Department’s website.
A flyer posted on social media by the Chicago Teachers Union noted that she was heading to the Wicker Park area for an acupuncture appointment, but that she never arrived and had not been heard from since.
During a Jan. 5 with WLS, Brown’s husband, Antwon Brown, said that the couple watched a movie together at home on Jan. 2, before going to bed. That was the last time he saw her.
“Next morning, I woke up, it was like 8:35 a.m., and she was gone,” he added, stating that she left home with her purse and credit cards. “I thought she went to acupuncture because she goes to acupuncture on Saturdays.”
When she didn’t return home, he reported her missing.
About a week later, he said her car had been found without any damage and had been towed by the Chicago police, although neither he nor local authorities shared additional information about where the car was found, according to Fox 32 Chicago and CBS Chicago.
Antwon said he and Linda have been married for 11 years, according to CBS Chicago, and that she worked at Robert Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport.
Antwon claimed that his wife disappeared shortly before she was set to return to work on Jan. 5, after having taken a leave of absence for several months.
“She has a little mental issues going on, and she took a leave of absence from her job to get help for that,” Antwon told CBS Chicago. “As school was getting closer, it was kind of getting worse, like the anxiety, the panic attacks.”
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