14-Year-Old Boy Charged With Killing Math Teacher, Dragged Her Body [PHOTOS]

philip chism Colleen Ritzer teen violence murder school death

By Staff Reporter , Parent Herald Oct 23, 12:05 pm

A 14-year-old student is facing charge for killing a beloved Massachusetts math teacher after her bloody body was found in the woods early Wednesday morning behind Danvers High School.

According to Danvers Police, the 14-year-old suspect is Philip Chism, who was reported missing late Tuesday afternoon after he failed to return home from school,said Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. Chism had recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee, according to the New York Daily News

At around 11:20 pm, Danvers Police received another call from concerned family members of 24-year-old Colleen Ritzer who did not return home and was not answering her phone.

Police suggested a connection between the two cases. Investigators then found the dead teacher after they discovered traces of blood in a school bathroom, Blodgett said.

According to ABC News, law enforcement officers said there is surveillance video inside the high school that shows the student dragging Ritzer's body from the bathroom toward the woods in what appeared to be a recycle bin. Authorities said further investigation needs to be done and for now are not releasing details of how she was killed.

The 14-year-old boy was later arrested after Topsfield police spotted him a few miles away from where Ritzer's body was found. Chism was walking against traffic on Route 1 when he was arrested.

"We have no reason to believe any other suspects are involved," Blodgett told reporters at a news conference Wednesday morning at the high school.

As a result of the murder, all public schools in Danvers - a town about 20 miles north of Boston - were closed on Wednesday.