Beloved Teacher Rebecca Rauber, 28, Found Dead in Snow 300 Yards From Where She Vanished as Monster Winter Storm Kills 18

A beloved Kansas elementary school teacher who vanished during a powerful winter storm has been found dead just a short distance from where she was last seen, authorities confirmed.

Rebecca Rauber, 28, a second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Emporia, Kansas, was discovered Sunday by K-9 units in a snow-covered wooded area less than 300 yards from a local bar she had left days earlier, police told CBS affiliate KWCH.

Rauber was last seen late Friday night leaving the bar on foot shortly before midnight as Winter Storm Fern battered much of the United States with heavy snow, ice, and dangerously low temperatures. At the time, she was not wearing a coat and did not have her purse or cellphone, authorities said.

Temperatures in the Emporia area dropped to just 3 degrees, with wind chills reaching minus 13, creating life-threatening conditions.

“Not the outcome that we had all hoped and prayed for,” Emporia police said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. We just wish we could have found her a little sooner.”

Investigators believe Rauber died from hypothermia just hours after she disappeared. Surveillance footage showed her leaving the bar alone before she vanished into the storm.

Police thanked the community for the “outpouring of care and assistance” during the search efforts.

The Emporia Public School District confirmed Rauber’s death and expressed deep sorrow for the loss of a teacher described as devoted to her students.

“Our hearts are with Ms. Rauber’s family, friends, students, and all who were touched by her life and dedication to education,” the district said in a press release. “She was a valued member of our school community, and her loss is felt deeply across our district.”

Rauber’s death comes as Winter Storm Fern’s toll continues to climb nationwide. At least 18 people have died as the massive storm blanketed 34 states with snow, ice, and subfreezing temperatures.

Weather-related fatalities include:

• Two deaths from hypothermia in Louisiana

• Three deaths in Tennessee

• A 16-year-old girl killed in a sledding accident in Frisco, Texas

• A man found frozen to death in an Austin parking lot

• A 51-year-old woman struck and killed by a snowplow in Massachusetts

• A 16-year-old boy killed in a sledding accident in Arkansas

• A college student found dead in Michigan after being last seen without a coat

• Five people found dead on the streets of New York City, confirmed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani

• A 60-year-old man on Long Island who died while shoveling snow

• Three elderly residents in Pennsylvania who died while clearing snow, according to the Lehigh County coroner

The storm also left more than one million people without power, with Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi among the hardest-hit states.