HOPWELL, Va. — Hopewell City Public Schools is mourning the loss of student Jayden McComber after deputies recovered the 18-year-old's body from a Caroline County pond.
"We are deeply saddened by the outcome involving our Hopewell High School student, Jayden (a beloved swim team member)," Hopewell City Public Schools posted on social media Wednesday afternoon. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and teachers during this incredibly difficult time."
District officials said counseling would be available for students on Thursday, April 2 in Hopewell High School’s library from 10 a.m. to noon. The school will also offer grief support when students return from Spring Break "as we come together to care for one another," officials said.
"HCPS is grateful and privileged for the time we had to serve this beautiful soul," the school system posted.
The Caroline County Sheriff's Office recovered McComber's body on Tuesday evening under the bridge overlooking the dam on Passing Road at Byrd's Mill Pond. The teen was reported missing last Friday.
"We're actually working this a homicide," Sheriff Scott Moser said in a previous interview. "We're going to do everything we can to resolve this matter."
The recovery happened just days after the body of an unidentified woman was found five miles away on Bagby Road. Medical officials are still working to identify her.
The sheriff's office believes the cases surrounding McComber's death and the unidentified woman are connected.
Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett that McComber's family said the teen's AirTag last pinged in the 2100 block of New Town in Caroline County, just a mile from where the woman's body was found.
Manley Fogg, who has lived on a property overlooking the pond for 37 years, watched the recovery from up the hill.
"People stop by over the bridge and fish every once in a while, off the bridge, but I never notice anything different," Fogg said.
Fogg was unsettled by what happened.
"It's kind of a little on the eerie side, because you don't know what to do... what's going on," Fogg said.
The sheriff's office said this is an active investigation.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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