PORTAGE, MI (WXMI/CNN) – Police located the body of a missing high school teacher after her husband killed himself and left behind a map showing where he buried her.
Investigators say Christopher Lockhart hanged himself in his basement Tuesday.
His wife, Theresa Lockhart, had been missing since May, and he had been named a person of interest after police say he wasn’t cooperating with the investigation.
"When you know what you know but you can't prove it. We had an idea, but we didn't have enough to run with it,” said Public Safety Director Nicholas Arnold.
Christopher Lockhart's body was found after investigators went to do a welfare check when the man didn’t show up for a “report time” at the Kalamazoo Office of Community Corrections.
Authorities say they also found a suicide note at the home, which contained a written confession to his wife’s murder as well as a hand-drawn map that pointed the way to her remains.
The note said he had killed Theresa on May 18 after he “snapped” during an argument, police say.
It took just a few hours for deputies to find Theresa Lockhart’s body, buried in a shallow grave in the Allegan Game Area, about 50 miles away from her home.
"This is hard. You know, we held out hope, but we kind of knew,” said Theresa’s friend Kellie Yunginger.
Concerns for Theresa Lockhart first sprang up on May 20 when police were contacted by an employee at her school, who asked them to do a welfare check at her home when she didn’t show up to work.
Friends and family are now trying to find comfort in finally knowing what happened to Theresa.
“My heart is breaking that a special life has been taken away but we now have peace of mind as to what and when. Chris did one good deed before he died and that was to tell us where we could find Theresa,” wrote Theresa’s sister, Joan, on Facebook.
Copyright 2017 WXMI, Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office via CNN. All rights reserved.
