Body found in desert thought to be missing teen
WEST WENDOVER — A body found in a shallow grave in the desert near the Utah border is likely that of a teenager who went missing while walking home from her high school last week, a Nevada police chief said Sunday.
West Wendover police chief Ron Supp told KSL-TV of Salt Lake City that authorities believe the body belongs to 16-year-old Micaela “Mickey” Costanzo. She disappeared from the eastern Nevada gambling town on Thursday.
More than 100 volunteers helped search for Costanzo on Saturday. A searcher discovered the freshly dug grave about five miles west of the town, and authorities set up tents and worked at the site on Sunday. Elko County Sheriff’s Cpl. Jim Carpenter said local detectives worked on the excavation with investigators from western Nevada’s Washoe County.
Costanzo was last seen leaving West Wendover High School on Thursday evening. Friends said she was a good student and was well-liked by her classmates.
“She was so sweet, like she would never do anything to anybody,” said Laura Botello, a junior at the school. “Then just out of nowhere she disappears just like that in broad daylight. Nobody saw her?”
School officials opened the high school for staff and students to gather on Saturday. Students created makeshift memorials with flowers and candles.
“It’s very solemn,” said high school counselor Anne Crawford. “There’s lots of tears and there’s a lot of people very scared or nervous.”