Heavily Pregnant Teen Found Stabbed To Death And Dumped In Lake After She Was Reported Missing

The story has been told of a heavily pregnant young woman whose body was found floating in Lake Michigan, USA.

The woman's body was found after being stabbed to death. She has been identified as a 19-year-old from Chicago.

Police with the Lake County Sheriff's Office have confirmed that the body is that of Yarianna Wheeler, a missing Chicago woman who was between six to nine months pregnant.

Authorities confirmed that Yarianna had sustained several "sharp force" injuries to her body, and her death is being treated as a homicide.

However, a full post-mortem examination to determine her official cause of death is still pending.

The announcement comes almost one week after Wheeler's body was found floating in the water, where it had reportedly been for between seven and 12 days.

According to the New York Post, officials said Yarianna may have entered the water "anywhere from the northern Indiana shoreline to the northern Illinois shoreline of Lake Michigan".

Her body was found by a fisherman on the lake at around 3pm on August 15, who immediately informed the authorities, according to local media.

By August 20, a sketch was released by the Sheriff's Office to show what they believed the victim may have looked like when she was alive.

Following this, cops received several dozen tips from members of the public, one of which led them to Wheeler, who was captured on CCTV entering a store on what's believed to be the last day she was seen alive.

Lt. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff's Office told local media: "When they saw the image, they knew they were on the right track.

"From there, they were able to obtain dental records, which led to her ultimately being identified."

Authorities have been successful in identifying Yarianna, but the Lake County Sheriff's Office is now asking for the public to provide any information about a potential suspect in her death.

And in a strange turn of events, just hours after Wheeler's body was found, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter discovered the body of a man, identified as 49-year-old Martin Mendoza, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, also floating in the lake.

Officials say it appears he drowned, and the two incidents are not related.

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Source: Daily Star UK