Missing Mom Krista Dittmeyer's Body Found in Pond, Assistant Attorney General Says

April 27, 2011 — -- Officials believe they have found the body of Krista Dittmeyer, a 20-year-old mother who mysteriously vanished near a rural New Hampshire ski area, leaving behind her infant daughter in her still-running car.

"She was located in what is known around this area as Duck Pond," said Assistant Attorney General Jane Young, according to ABC News Boston affiliate WCVB. "We are treating this as a suspicious death."

Young said an autopsy would take place Thursday in Concord, N.H.

"Once that examination is done and an autopsy is complete, we may be able to release to you the manner and the cause of her death," Young said.

Earlier, a hearse was seen leaving the retaining pond near Cranmore Mountain ski area, where Dittmeyer's car was found in a parking lot Saturday.

On Tuesday, police confirmed blood was discovered in Dittmeyer's car. The black Nissan Sentra was found with the engine running, hazard lights flashing, the door open and her 14-month-old daughter inside.

Over the weekend, search-and-rescue teams and members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department searched the woods near the mountain, but called off the search, convinced Dittmeyer's body was not there.

Lt. Chris Perley, a spokesman for the New Hampshire Police Department, said that investigators drained a pond Monday near the parking lot where the car was found, because "the water was so cloudy we couldn't tell what was there."

It's unclear why Dittmeyer drove an hour and a half to the ski area, near the town of Conway. She lived in Portland, Maine, and was originally from Bridgton, Maine.

Dittmeyer's mother said that everything sounded normal when she talked to her daughter Friday evening.

Police said Dittmeyer did not live with the father of her baby, 14-month-old Aliyah. They said they had been in touch with the man, but would not confirm if he was a person of interest in the investigation.

Aliyah is in good condition and is in the care of family members.