Body Found in River Identified as Missing Iowa Girl Kathlynn Shepard’s

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa authorities have identified a body found in a river as that of a 15-year-old girl who was abducted with another girl after getting off a school bus last month.

Officials announced Sunday morning an autopsy confirms the body found Friday night in the Des Moines River under a bridge near Boone is Kathlynn Shepard's.

Chief State Medical Examiner Dr. Julia Goodin says Kathlynn died of "multiple sharp and blunt forced injuries."

Investigators expressed confidence the body was Kathlynn's hours after a fisherman discovered it.

Clothes on it matched what Kathlynn was wearing when she and a 12-year-old friend were taken on May 20 in Dayton, about 60 miles north of Des Moines.

Authorities say Michael Klunder kidnapped the girls and committed suicide after the younger girl got away.

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