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The body of Catherine Johannet, 23, was found by an officer near the beach in Bastimentos at 2:11 p.m. on Sunday, said police spokesman Martin Sanchez.
"Official sources of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Panama revealed that, according to a preliminary report of the autopsy of the young Catherine M. Johannet, the cause of her death would have been strangling," Sanchez added.
A 2011 graduate of Edgemont High School and 2015 graduate of Columbia University, Johannet was last seen on Thursday, Feb. 2, when she traveled to Bastimentos Island from nearby Colon Island.
Johannet, who had been staying in a hostel at Bocas del Toro, was reported missing by her friends, who also hung posters across the area in hopes of finding her, reported Newsroom Panama.
She was reportedly heading to Red Frog Beach and had planned to return in the afternoon.
The widespread search that followed her disappearance involved volunteers and agents of the National Police, the FBI, the National Civil Protection Agency, and the Bocas del Toro Fire Department, Sanchez said.
Johannet was employed as a teacher in Vietnam at Ivy Prep from July 2015 until October 2016, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Sanchez added that the investigation is continuing. No arrests have been made.
For Daily Voice's previous report on the death of Catherine Johannet, click here.
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