Alexa Morales.Photo: GoFundMe
A missing Georgia elementary school teacher was found dead this week in Mexico, where she was last seen on Saturday, Oct. 30, multiple outlets report.
The school official said there was an active police investigation into her disappearance and added, “Thank you for your support of our students and staff during this difficult time. I ask that you please keep Ms. Morales and her family in your thoughts and prayers, with hopes that she safely returns home.”
A spokesperson for the Gwinnett County Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
On aGoFundMe pageset up in her honor, a loved one wrote, “It comes with a heavy heart to share that Alexandra Morales is no longer with us. We appreciate all of your help and efforts during this challenging time.”
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Her friend and former classmate Yessica Ortero told WXIA, “[I] never would have thought she was going to be found dead. You don’t— you don’t expect that. I knew she was going to a concert because she had been posting about it. I don’t know, I’m still in shock. You know, it’s sad.”
A parent named Maria Palacios told WGCL about explaining the death to her daughter, 6, who had Morales as a teacher.
“She was so natural at it and the kids loved her. They had so much fun,” said Palacios, adding, “Before I could get the words out, my daughter was crying already. I had to respond, explaining what it means to not come back, that Ms. Morales was not coming back.”
“To have a Latina bilingual teacher was really important to her. She was the first teacher she identified with personally, and it was the first teacher my daughter said, ‘I want to be a teacher like Ms. Morales,’ " Palacios said of her child. “I just hope her family knows how inspirational and impactful she was to her students.”
source: people.com
