Missing Vermont College student Lia Smith confirmed dead

Missing Middlebury College student Lia Smith has officially been confirmed dead.

Smith, 21, was reported missing by her father on Sunday, Oct. 19, two days after she was last seen on campus. A body was discovered near the college by Vermont State Police on Thursday, Oct. 23, and an autopsy has now confirmed it to be Smith’s, per a press release from the Vermont Police Department (VPD) shared on Friday, October 24th.

The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Smith died by suicide, according to the release.

PEOPLE reached out to both the VPD and the medical examiner’s office for comment Saturday, Oct. 25, but did not receive an immediate response.

Middlebury College President Ian Baucom announced the news to the campus community in a statement on Facebook on Saturday and said he had spoken to Smith’s family and expressed his “heart” to them.

“As president, and much more as a fellow parent, I feel for them. This is a profound loss that no one should have to endure,” he continued.

“As we grieve, I want to express my deep appreciation for the efforts of our student affairs staff who have offered such compassionate support to Lia’s family, friends and students throughout our community. We will continue to support them in any way we can,” Baucom said.

He noted that Smith, who was from Woodside, California, was a “remarkable person.”

“She was a diver on our women’s swimming and diving teams, a member of our chess clubs and Japanese clubs, and an outspoken advocate for transgender rights. Her academic interests were broad and she pursued a double major in computer science and statistics. She was a gift to us, and we are so grateful that she was — and always will be — a member of our Middlebury,” he added.

Members of the Vermont State Police and Rescue Team found Smith’s body in Cornwall, Vt., near the college’s organic farm, the Middlebury Police Department said in a statement.

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Middlebury students had joined authorities in the search for Smith, per MyNBC5.

“We’re a really small community,” senior Lucy Schembre told the local news agency during the search efforts. “Even if you don’t know someone personally, you definitely know someone who knows them, and you’ve definitely seen them around. It’s very hard for someone who’s supposed to be here to not be here.”

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