Karen Swift murder
The 44-year-old's body was found among bushes and undergrowth near a cemetery just two miles from her home in Dyer County, Tennessee.
Investigators are currently giving no details about how she was murdered and no suspects have been named.
Mrs Swift was last seen outside her home on October 30 at 1.30am after returning from a Halloween party.
Twenty days before that she had filed for divorce from her husband David, citing irreconcilable differences, myfoxmemphis.com reports.
Court documents showed the couple seemed to agree on a custody arrangement and child support payments and the couple were still living together.
Mrs Swift had two sons in college and two daughters aged seven and nine.
The body was found on Saturday after the once-green vegetation that had concealed it had thinned due to the cold weather.
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| Vanished: Karen Swift was last seen outside her home on October 30 |
Dyer County resident Cara Ibarra said: 'Oh my God, everybody's been looking for her.'
At the Presbyterian Church, Youth Pastor Matt Tyler told Fox: 'My heart goes out to her children and that's where my prayers have been, for the children.'
Mrs Swift's car was found about a mile from her home, with a flat tyre.
Her father Gary Johnson, 67, last month told ABC she could have got a flat tire and decided to leave the car and walk home when something happened to her.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent in charge John Mehr said the vehicle was searched for evidence but did not say what may have been found.
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Too much to leave behind: Karen's friends rebuked the theory that she would run away because she loved her children too much, had made plans for the coming week, and was owed money from a recent job |
Mrs Swift attended a Halloween party at the Dyersburg Country Club-The Farms the night before she disappeared, and arrived home to the house she shared with her ex-husband around midnight. She had picked up one of the couples' daughters from a sleepover since the girl was not feeling well.
The next morning, Karen was not in the house so David called her cell phone and got no answer. A neighbor then called David to tell him that her abandoned car was sitting off the side of a small nearby highway.
It was one of Karen's friends who called the police department to report her missing at 2.37pm Sunday afternoon, and not David. The police then told the friend to have David call them and he did so.
The following search included crime lab specialists, K9 teams and ground crews searching the rivers and lakes surrounding the area where Karen's car was found.
There was one initial clue that gave an inkling of hope but ended up being a tangential issue.
A week after Karen disappeared, one of her neighbors was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty. The aptly-named John Hogshooter, 39, was arrested after allegedly poisoning two local dogs, one of which belonged to the Swifts.
Given the disturbing nature of his crimes and proximity to the Swift house, his car and home were searched for clues relating to Karen's disappearance but was ruled out as a suspect shortly after the investigators found nothing relating him to her case.
Mrs Swift's brother Jeffrey Johnson said the young daughters were 'in shock' with their mother gone.
Mr Swift's lawyer Timothy Naifeh said: 'It's very emotional for Mr. Swift and the family.
'They're asking at least for this period of time to have some privacy - it's time for grieving and it's time for mourning.
'It's heartbreaking and it's very, very sad.'
Her disappearance prompted a massive ground and aerial search.
Janet Ross, a longtime friend of Swift, last month told KAIT: 'It's like living in a nightmare that you can't wake up from.
'Karen lives for her children. They were her world. She would not do this to them, if she could prevent it.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073441/Karen-Swift-Murder-probe-launched-body-missing-mother-found.html#ixzz1gWpa5KR8