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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Body Identified as Missing Teacher; Husband Charged

On a story I've been following since it hit the news cycle....

Police arrested a man on suspicion of murder Wednesday after the body of his wife, a special education teacher, was found near a highway on New York's Long Island two days after she failed to show up for work. Leah Walsh, 29, was reported missing Monday, and her abandoned car was found that day with a flat tire on another highway 13 miles from where her body was found.

William Walsh made several tearful public pleas to help find his missing wife, but police said they arrested him after the identity of the body was confirmed Wednesday evening. Nassau County Police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Repalone offered no details of how or why Leah Walsh was killed, saying a news conference would be held Thursday. William Walsh, 29, was expected to be arraigned on the murder charge that day. He was in police custody Wednesday night, and it wasn't immediately known if he had a lawyer.

Before the discovery of the body he spoke to reporters outside the couple's Bethpage home and appealed for information about his wife's whereabouts.

"I miss her more than anything," he said, noting her dedication as a teacher. "She loves her children. She wouldn't just leave them. Something had to have happened."

Detectives interviewed the husband on Tuesday, but police said at the time it was a routine part of the investigation. The couple have been married for three years and have no children, police said. Leah Walsh's parents declined to speak to reporters. Leah Walsh worked with autistic children at a school in Glen Cove. Police believe she usually left home for work between 6:15 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

At about 6:30 a.m. Monday, a state Department of Transportation vehicle left a sticker on the side window of her car indicating it had mechanical problems. The doors were locked, and the woman was nowhere in sight.

LISA

FOX News New York
See also News From All Over

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