LURAY, Va. (AP) – UPDATE
The search for a missing Virginia woman was suspended after a body believed to be hers was discovered on Saturday.
At about 10 a.m., a body was found in extremely steep and rough terrain in the southernmost part of the Shenandoah National Park. Investigators believe it is the remains of 55-year-old Julia Christina Devlin who was last seen in Charlottesville on Wednesday, July 14.
On July 17, investigators found her car wrecked and abandoned in the national park.
Authorities report that the body is being transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Augusta County for positive ID and determination of the cause of death.
ORGINAL
A search is underway in the Shenandoah National Park for a Virginia woman who’s been missing for over a week.
The National Park Service is leading efforts to find Julia Christine Devlin, a 55-year-old University of Virginia economics department lecturer who was last seen in Charlottesville July 14, news outlets reported.
Security footage showed Devlin’s car entering the park late on July 14, park officials have said. Her sedan was found wrecked and abandoned July 17 on Skyline Drive in the southern part of the park.
Canine teams and officials with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management were assisting in the search, The Daily Progress reported. Volunteers were not being recruited.
UVA spokesman Brian Coy told TV station WVIR the university is hoping for her safe return and encourages anyone with information to contact the authorities.
Devlin is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, and 150 pounds with dark blonde hair.
