A missing Kansas elementary school teacher was discovered dead in the snow just 300 yards from where surveillance footage last captured her Friday as a massive winter storm swept the country.
The body of 28-year-old Rebecca Rauber was found covered in snow in a wooded area of Emporia on Sunday, near where she was last seen leaving a bar days earlier, police told KWCH.
Police said Rauber was located by K-9 Daisy of K-9 Search and Rescue Kansas.
Rebecca Rauber, 28, was found covered in snow in a wooded area of Emporia on Sunday, near where she was last seen leaving a bar on Friday.
Facebook
“Not the outcome that we had all hoped and prayed for, but our thoughts and prayers are with that family,” Emporia Police Chief Edward Owens told the outlet.
“Just wish we could have found her a little sooner.”
Rauber, a second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School, is believed to have died from hypothermia just hours after she disappeared.
Police said the family of the young teacher has been notified and that an autopsy is pending to determine her cause of death.
Rauber was reported missing early Saturday after leaving the Town Royal bar on foot without her purse, phone or a jacket.
She was last seen on surveillance footage leaving the bar during the ferocious winter storm around 11:37 p.m.
Rauber is believed to have died from hypothermia just hours after she disappeared.Facebook
Temperatures were around 3 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 13, when she is believed to have left the bar.
Police thanked the local community and residents for their “outpouring of care and assistance” during the search.
The Emporia Public School District said the beloved teacher’s death was “felt deeply across our district.”
“Our hearts are with Ms. Rauber’s family, friends, students, and all who were touched by her life and dedication to education. She was a valued member of our school community, and her loss is felt deeply across our district,” the district said in a press release, according to KVOE.
5
A motorist drives down a snow-covered street as a winter storm passes through the area Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.AP
“At this time, we are focused on supporting our students and staff as they process this difficult news. Counselors and district support teams will be available at our schools to provide care and assistance for anyone who may need it.”
Rauber’s death marks another fatality linked to the deadly national snowstorm dubbed Winter Storm Fern.
At least 13 people have died, with millions of others left without power, after the storm pummeled 34 states with snow and ice on Sunday, according to USA Today.
Rebecca Rauber was discovered dead in the snow just 300 yards from where surveillance footage last captured her Friday.KWCH
5
Rauber was found covered in snow in a wooded area of Emporia on Sunday, near where she was last seen leaving a bar days earlier.KWCH
The plunging temperatures also turned deadly elsewhere, with at least two men in Louisiana dying from hypothermia in connection with the storm, according to the state Department of Health.
Five New Yorkers were found dead on Saturday due to the sheer cold before the snow even fell.
In Michigan, officials announced the recovery of the body of Lucas Mattson on Saturday, a 19-year-old University of Michigan student last seen around 1 a.m. Friday, walking alone without a coat, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.
As snow and sleet fell across more than two-thirds of the nation, more than 11,600 flight cancellations were reported by Sunday evening, according to the FlightAware tracking site.
The powerful storm also caused major blackouts in affected areas, leaving more than 1 million customers without electricity on Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tennessee alone had more than 300,000 outage reports, with Mississippi and Louisiana each reporting more than 140,000 customers without power.
Other states experiencing widespread outages included Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia and Alabama.
News
“She Could No Longer Communicate” — Betty Broderick’s Son Is Now Revealing Tragic New Information About the Infamous Killer’s Final Days on Life Support
Betty was serving two consecutive sentences for the 1989 killings of her ex-husband and his new wife at the time of her death Betty Broderick’s son, Daniel Broderick, is sharing new details about the death of his mother, who died in prison at the age of 78 while serving a life sentence for killing her […]
More Than 35 Years After Betty Broderick Killed Their Father in Bed… Here’s What Happened to Her Children
Betty Broderick was once seen as the picture-perfect American wife: a devoted mother living in a luxury home in La Jolla, California, with her successful attorney husband and their four children. But behind the image of wealth and perfection was a marriage filled with betrayal, rage, obsession, and emotional destruction — one that would ultimately […]
New Idaho evidence is devastating: Xana Kernodle was reportedly awake at 4:12 AM ordering DoorDash and scrolling TikTok moments before the attack.
The sister of one of four college students slaughtered in their home has spoken out about a bombshell development in the case. Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of a horror quadruple homicide in a case that has captivated the world, has reportedly accepted a plea deal in order to avoid the death penalty. Kohberger […]
“THE LEGS WOULDN’T FIT.” — Michigan Killer’s Chilling Confession Left Detectives Speechless.
In May 2019, police in the town of Sturgis, Mich., received an anonymous tip that a 35-year-old resident Wade Allen, had killed his girlfriend, Kelly Jean Warner, and hidden her dismembered body in his apartment. Allen let them in, as seen in a digital exclusive episode of A&E’s Crime in Progress, but claimed that Warner […]
“YOU DESTROYED MY LIFE” — Then She Shot Her Ex-Husband and His Young Lover While They Slept.
Betty Broderick: The True Story Behind America’s Most Infamous Divorce Murder The death of Betty Broderick on May 8, 2026, closed the final chapter on one of the most controversial true crime cases in American history — a case that still divides public opinion nearly four decades later. Some people see Betty as a cold-blooded […]
“Fearless” hunter Anthony Pollio never made it home…
A Catholic deacon mauled to death in a suspected bear attack left his father a touching voicemail as he embarked on the ill-fated hike to watch the sunset. Anthony Pollio, 33, was found dead at Montana’s Glacier National Park about two and a half miles into a hike along the Mt. Brown Trail on May […]
End of content
No more pages to load
