The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the cause and manner of death for Linda Brown, the special education teacher whose body was recovered from Lake Michigan.
After an autopsy conducted Tuesday, the office ruled Brown’s death a suicide by drowning. No additional details have been publicly released at this time.
Authorities previously said Brown’s body was pulled from Lake Michigan on the morning of Monday, Jan. 12, near the 3100 block of South Lake Shore Drive on Chicago’s South Side.
“This is not the outcome we were hoping or praying for, but we are grateful that she has been found and can now be brought home to our family,” Brown’s family said in a statement to Fox affiliate WFLD.
Police previously said Brown was last seen on Saturday, Jan. 3, in the area of the 4500 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Chicago.
Her husband, Antwon Brown, told ABC affiliate WLS that the couple watched a movie together at their Bronzeville home the night before. When he woke up the next morning, he said, she was gone.
“I thought she went to acupuncture because she goes to acupuncture on Saturdays,” he added, but she never arrived at the appointment.
According to the family, footage from Jan. 3 later showed Brown walking over a pedestrian bridge that led toward the lakefront, but did not show her returning.
Antwon Brown said his wife of 11 years taught at Robert Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport, according to CBS affiliate WBBM. He said she was scheduled to return to work on Monday, Jan. 5, after taking a leave of absence.
“She has a little mental issues going on, and she took a leave of absence from her job to get help for that,” he said in the interview. “As school was getting closer, it was kind of getting worse, like the anxiety, the panic attacks.”
On Jan. 7, he told local outlets that Brown’s car — described by police as a blue Honda Civic — had been found undamaged. The family reportedly said the vehicle was located near South Lake Park Avenue and East 35th Street.
Five days later, Brown’s body was discovered in Lake Michigan.
In a statement, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was “deeply saddened by the news” of Brown’s death.
“As a special education teacher at Healy Elementary she made an immeasurable impact on countless young lives and was a vital member of the Bridgeport community,” Johnson said. “I’m praying for her family, and for her students as they grieve and remember Linda and all the joy she brought.”
