Police Believe They Have Found Nick Garza

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An autopsy began at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday on the man police believe is Nicholas Garza. Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley said he expected to have some preliminary results from the medical examiner by sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Police pulled the body of the young man out of Otter Creek Tuesday night, and tentatively identified it as the Middlebury College freshman.

The body was found just below the falls in the same area where crews have been focusing their search for some time now.

Divers hoisted the body out of the water at the edge of a debris pile around 8:40 p.m.

A spokesperson for the Middlebury Police Department says the body was wearing pants and in those pants they found a wallet with Garza's ID in it.

It all started Tuesday around 4:00 p.m.

Middlebury Police were doing some prep work for a planned weekend search. While they were testing the water for temperature and depth, Chief Tom Hanley spotted what he believed to be a body caught in the debris.

Extra crews were called to the scene and they spent several hours cutting and pulling away logs before scuba teams jumped into the water to help free the body.

"Tentatively the body is that-- has been identified as Nicholas Garza. I say tentative because in the pants of the body that was recovered from Otter Creek was the wallet of Nicholas Garza with the identification of Nicholas Garza. So pending confirmation of that at the chief medical examiner's office (Wednesday), tentatively it can be said that is the remains of Nicholas Garza," said Middlebury Police Spokesman Tom Scanlon.

The body was sent to the chief medical examiner's office in Burlington.

Police hope an autopsy planned for Wednesday will positively identify the body and determine the cause of death.

And while the search does bring a form of closure, there are still many questions left to be answered, like how did he end up in the Otter Creek? Investigators hope the autopsy will help provide some of those answers.

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Snow blanketed the Middlebury College campus the week Nick Garza went missing in February. Search crews scoured the campus poking sticks into the snow drifts looking for any sign of the missing freshman from New Mexico, but found nothing.

As the weeks passed by, winter finally released it's tight grasp on the campus. Crews conducted more thorough ground searches and also began looking for Garza's body in Otter Creek-- specifically the area where the body was found.

In April, an aerial team from Maine made an important discovery. They took hundreds of high resolution photographs. In one, they spotted what they believed was the body of Nick Garza in a stretch of the creek near the high school.

A dog team later confirmed their theory-- also tracing Garza's scent to the water just upstream from where the picture was taken.

Crews found no more clues that week, but believe the body may have dropped over the falls and ended up buried beneath a large pile of debris.

Numerous searches with underwater cameras failed to turn up any sign of Garza, until Tuesday when his body was spotted in the same area crews have been searching all along.

Natalie Garza watched as crews pulled her son's body from the river. Dozens of Middlebury residents also watched, many silently sobbing.

Finally closure for the family-- and for the numerous crews who have spent hundreds of hours looking for Nick Garza.

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Natalie Garza, Nick's mother, issued this statement: "Nicholas had a wit that was quick smart and sure, but moreover, humble. He cherished his family, especially his younger brother Damon. He was a serious young man; his integrity and perception of life were beyond his short years. Grace to him was given from birth, as was his love of literature, music, and philosophy. We will miss his thick black hair and easy laughter. Nothing in life has prepared us for such a loss. We hope to honor him in the simple and pure way that he lived his life. He was adored, deeply loved, and those who knew him were blessed with an extraordinary man. Thank-you to the thousands of letters, e-mails and prayers."

Middlebury College President Ronald Liebowitz issued a statement on the school's website. He extended condolences to Garza's family and friends. He also thanked police and search teams for their hard work. Liebowitz says the school is planning a remembrance for Nick Garza, but the details have not been finalized.

Click here to read the statement.

WCAX News