Rebecca Rauber, a 28-year-old second-grade teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Emporia, Kansas, was found dead Sunday after disappearing from a local bar Friday night during a severe winter storm.
Rauber left Town Royal bar shortly before midnight Friday, leaving behind her purse, cellphone and jacket as temperatures plunged toward negative 10 degrees with wind chill. The Emporia Police Department issued a missing person alert less than two hours later.
A multi-agency search involving the Kansas Highway Patrol, Lyon County Sheriff's Office, and Search and Rescue Kansas used surveillance footage and K-9 bloodhounds to track her movements. She was discovered Sunday evening in a wooded area about one mile from the bar, covered in snow.
"At this time, it appears Rebecca may have succumbed to hypothermia early on in her disappearance, as she was covered in snow due to the snowstorm that became heavy on Saturday," police said in a statement.
Originally from Wichita, Rauber was remembered by colleagues and friends as having "the most radiant smile" and an "infectious laugh." The Emporia Public School District called her a "valued member of our school community" whose "loss is felt deeply across our district."
Rauber is survived by her father Ty, sister Bailey, and brother Aaron. Her mother, Brenda Sue Rauber, died in 2022.