CNN reports tragedy out of Boston today, where a Danvers High School mathematics teacher was brutally murdered by a 14-year-old student and dumped in the woods behind the school.
According to the Essex County District Attorney’s office, 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer was reported missing when she did not return home from school. After discovering blood in a bathroom on the second floor, they expanded the search and found her in the woods, a short distance from Danvers. Ritzer, in addition to teaching, was in the process of earning a master’s degree from Salem State University.
Classes at Danvers were cancelled at 4:45 a.m. this morning by Danvers town officials because the police were conducting a homicide investigation. The official cause of death for the teacher was not reported.
The suspect in the case is Philip D. Chism, also reported missing around the same time as Ritzer because he did not return home. The two knew each other from Danvers High, and Chism was new in town, having recently moved there from Tennessee.
Chism had last been seen leaving a 4:30 p.m. matinee of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine at 6:30. The movie theatre’s manager, Scott Przybcien, indicated to the Boston Herald that “He blended right in… I think he just was wandering, looking for a place to hide. A movie theater is a perfect place for that.”
Police tweets indicated their search for Chism began around 9:30:
Missing Child Philip Chism 14YOM was last seen today at 6:30 near Hollywood Hits. More info: http://t.co/WUEofdyeHU pic.twitter.com/YpvJdHwn6f
— Danvers Police Dept (@DanversPolice) October 23, 2013
The boy was reported found shortly after 7 a.m. this morning:
Philip chism has been found safely.
— Danvers Police Dept (@DanversPolice) October 23, 2013
Police had picked Chism up just past midnight, walking north on the southbound side of Route 1. He will be arraigned today in Salem court on the charge of murder.
Here’s an interview with some students who said they knew Chism:
Additionally, here’s a reporter who uncovered some personal details from interviewing people about Colleen Ritzer:
[Image via Facebook]