Sarah Townsend committed suicide, according to the Burlington County Medical Examiner, Dr. Ian Hood.
And toxicology tests show that Townsend, 18, "had significant levels of cocaine in her system at the time of her death," according to Joel Bewley, the county's public information officer.
Townsend drowned in a pond at Green Acres Park. Before her body was found on Friday, May 13, 2011, there was an exhaustive search for Sarah. Her boyfriend reported her missing five days earlier when he found her car parked near Sherman's Pond with the engine running and Sarah nowhere to be found. Her purse and cell phone were still inside the car.
"Sarah also left a suicide note in her car. Dr. Hood has determined that the manner of Sarah's death was suicide," Bewley said in today's statement.
Townsend was from Florence, New Jersey.
