A FAMILY’S AGONY
KIN, COPS STILL SEEKING ANSWERS IN DEATH OF BELOVED DELCO TEACHER
WILMINGTON, DEL. >> The family of Academy Park teacher Susan Ledyard is expected to announce the latest development in the death investigation Saturday ahead of a canvassing event to find clues about her demise.
The Morrissey family, including Susan’s sisters Missy and Meg, and Ledyard’s husband, Ben, will provide an official update since Delaware State Police held a press conference last month on Susan’s mysterious death in Wilmington in late July.
Morrissey could not provide any information Thursday on what the update would be, saying she was waiting for state police clearance to share the information before Saturday. She did say the information has been incorporated into fliers that friends and family will used in canvassing efforts from the Centerville area of Delaware nearing the Pennsylvania border to the Trolley Square section of downtown Wilmington.
The announcement will be made at 10 a.m. at the BBC Tavern & Grill in Greenville, Del.
Information regarding Ledyard’s manner of death has yet to be disclosed by Delaware State Police. At the September press conference, investigators said they were still waiting on toxicology reports to determine the manner of death. Morrissey could not disclose if this would be the focus of the announcement as she waited for state police approval to release any information.
Ledyard was discovered dead along the Brandywine River in downtown Wilmington around 7:30 a.m. on July 23. Investigators revealed her car was found parked about 3 miles up the river from where her body was found, which was not far from her home in Wilmington. What they had yet to figure out was what happened in a window of time leading up to 7 a.m. that morning.
Morrissey said it’s been a roller coaster going through the grieving process, and that September press conference changed things for her.
“The press conference we learned, along with the public, that she was alive another four hours, that there was this missing time soon after 3 a.m. To find out it was closer to 7 a.m. (when police say her traceable activity ended) was a shock,” she said.
Police say Ledyard left her home at 3:02 a.m. and parked her car minutes later near the river on Walkers Mill Road, but what she was doing from that time until her body was discovered has
not been accounted for. Police have only said she was “active” during that period.
Morrissey has been posting fliers down along
the river and in other areas in Wilmington. She said these canvassing efforts are to support attention to the case on top of what local media outlets and social media has already done.
“Our goal was to try and help in getting the word out in areas where it
wasn’t out. Now we’re continuing that process of informing the public to supplement the media attention,” she said.
She later added that she believes police are “following up on every lead and every avenue” in the investigation of her sister’s death.