BODY FOUND

Authorities believe they’ve found Brianna DiBattiste’s body.
Human remains were found Monday at the Jay County Conservation Club in a wooded area near county road 650 South, Jay County Prosecutor Wes Schemenaur said in a press release Tuesday evening.
Investigators believe the remains belong to the Dunkirk resident, who went missing June 16.
“Investigators have preliminarily identified the body as Ms. DiBattiste. A DNA test will be performed in order to confirm the identity,” Schemenaur said.
An autopsy was scheduled for today at the Northeast Indiana Forensic Center in Fort Wayne.
The body was discovered by members of the Jay County Conservation Club, and was recovered by a forensic pathology team from the University of Indianapolis.
At this time, the cause of death remains unknown.
Schemenuar said evidence collected where the body was found indicates it is likely DiBattiste.
DiBattiste, 25, had been missing for 11 weeks. She left her father’s Dunkirk home June 16 without packing any possessions and never returned.
Dunkirk Mayor Dan Watson said the news of a body being found wasn’t what residents in Dunkirk wanted to hear about one of their own.
“This tragic event has brought many in our community together, praying for the family of Brianna DiBattiste and her parents,” he said.
Early in the investigation, police obtained DiBattiste’s phone records, which showed she hadn’t used the phone since the day she went missing.
Since then, officers from Jay County Sheriff’s Office, Dunkirk Police Department, Albany Police Department, Indiana State Police and Muncie Police Department have followed many leads and tips, taking them all over East Central Indiana and into Ohio.
In mid-August, police searched a house in Muncie and a nature preserve near Upland after a convicted felon told investigators DiBattiste’s body was left in those locations.
Most recently, the search expanded to an area near the Big Blue River in northeastern Henry County after the same man, Curtis Ray Neal, told investigators her body was there.
Following the mid-August search for DiBattiste, Neal was charged with obstruction of justice and false informing in Delaware County. His initial court hearing was Tuesday and he received a Jan. 29 trial date.