Days after going missing in subfreezing weather, a lady from upstate New York was discovered dead on Tuesday morning.
At approximately 9 p.m. on Saturday, Leah Bellitto, 29, left her Amherst, New York, home, which is approximately 10 miles from downtown Buffalo. She was dressed in a blue flower-patterned backpack, black pajama trousers, and a black long-sleeve shirt.
According to reports, she was last seen entering the snow-covered woods behind her house, where the ground was covered in snow and the temperature dropped as low as 25 degrees.
After Bellitto’s family reported her missing on Monday, a search was launched across the region.
Handprints and barefoot prints were discovered during the search close to a pond and creek in the direction she was thought to be going.
Three days after her disappearance, at 9:55 a.m. on Tuesday, a civilian volunteer discovered the 29-year-old’s body in an East Amherst body of water.
Bellitto’s death is presently being looked into by the Amherst Police Department.
According to law authorities, there doesn’t seem to be any “danger to the public,” and they don’t suspect foul play was involved.
A nearby neighbor described the finding of Bellitto’s death as “devastating.”
Trisha Tower said, “It’s been really cold and whatever happened, maybe going for a walk and just getting lost and just freezing out here and it’s just really sad.”
Alesha Conte, a volunteer who assisted in the hunt for Bellitto’s, stated that when a member of the community disappears, “it hits home.”
“Me and my husband and our kids…we live in Amherst and you know it hits you and it hits home when you see this happening in your community,” Conte stated.
“And everybody needs help there can’t be enough help…with something like this.”
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After learning of the 29-year-old’s absence during Sunday’s Super Bowl, local resident Tom Chiaramonte claimed he and his son joined the hunt for the missing person.
Chiaramonte was shocked to hear of Bellitto’s passing and to see her body discovered so near to his house.
He remarked, “They found her at the creek right up here on Dodge Road. Unfortunate for the family. Very, very sad for the family.”
On Facebook, Nardin Academy, a private Catholic high school where Bellitto completed her high school education in 2015, expressed their sadness upon learning of her passing.
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“The entire Nardin community prays for and offers its heartfelt condolences to the Bellitto Family, Leah’s friends, and her loved ones. Our thoughts are with them all,” according to school officials.
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