Police suspect body of woman found in Grosse Tete is missing teacher

GROSSE TETE - Police say the badly decomposed body of a woman found near Grosse Tete could be that of Lyntell Washington, a pregnant teacher who went missing last week.

The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office said a farmer was contacted by one of his workers around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, reporting the discovery of a possible body. Deputies confirmed that the body was found in a ditch on Rosedale Road north of I-10.

While Baton Rouge Police did say it is possible the body belongs to the missing teacher, they must process the scene and send the body back to Baton Rouge before further details can be ascertained by the EBR Coroner's Office. They described the body as badly decomposed, but could not confirm whether or not the woman was pregnant.

Search parties looked for the missing woman in areas north of Baton Rouge into the weekend, but active search parties were suspended on Monday. A 6-mile area around Ramah and the Atchafalaya Basin were searched for hours on Friday afternoon with the search breaking off at 6 p.m. on that day.

Robert Marks, 39, has been arrested in relation to Washington's child, who was found in a Baton Rouge parking lot last week. However, he has yet to be charged in connection with Washington's disappearance. During the course of the investigation, detectives learned the pair were in a romantic relationship and that Washington was pregnant with Marks' child.