NAGUABO, Puerto Rico — A family member of missing Indiana teacher Amanda Webster traveled to Puerto Rico to help authorities confirm it was her body found in a river last week.
People close to the situation tell 13News Webster's brother went to Puerto Rico to give a DNA sample and supply investigators with his sister's dental records as they continue to carry out the identification process.
Webster has now been missing for more than a week after traveling to Puerto Rico for vacation. The island's police department told 13News her Airbnb hosts reported her disappearance after she never came back from a hike on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Her belongings and rental car were all untouched.
Just a few days later, a body, believed to be Webster's, was found floating down a river in Naguabo, the town where she was vacationing. Naguabo is some distance from the place where Webster was staying, but authorities could not say what time she left.
"She told us there was a lot more to tell us and show her stories when she got back. Now, we don't get the stories," said Heather Clark, Webster's friend of three years. "You know, we were living a little bit through her adventures."
The Puerto Rico Institute of Forensic Science said an autopsy of the body was conducted on Sunday, Oct. 15. Her students and fellow teachers at Thompson Crossing Elementary School in Franklin Township, where she teaches art, are still reeling from her disappearance and the news that the body found could be hers.
A statement from the district read, in part, "Amanda was an amazing teacher who was a champion for every student she came in contact with. We are all better off for knowing Amanda."
And like the coffee shop where Clark spoke to 13News Thursday, she hopes there will be a silver lining out of all of this.
"We're just trying to figure out what we can do to help others learn from her passing," Clark said emotionally.
The Institute of Forensic Science said once they've compared the DNA sample and the dental records to the body, they'll be able to formally confirm the identification.