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Community, students rejoice after missing teacher found alive

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) – Members of the Woodland Elementary School community are sending support to a teacher found alive after police spent two days looking for her.

Investigators said they found Krista Perdue dehydrated and disoriented next to a pond near her home Tuesday evening.

Hospital staff won’t release information on her condition, but the Tippecanoe County Sheriff said he expects Perdue to recover.

He said she wasn’t able to answer questions Tuesday but he’s hoping she’ll eventually explain what happened.

Perdue teaches at Woodland, where Christian Reid attended second grade.

“Sometimes she used to come to our class and she used to see what we are doing and stuff like that. She was really nice,” Reid said.

Perdue’s husband said he woke up Monday morning, realized she was gone and called the police. He nearly dropped to the ground Tuesday after investigators found his wife.

Her neighbor, Barbara Taylor, is rejoicing.

“I am just so overjoyed that they found her and I’m just praying that she’s going to be okay,” Taylor said.

Tuesday, two sets of flowers sat on Perdue’s porch. They’re gifts, waiting for her while she recovered at the hospital.

Reid’s aunt, Antonai Landon, said two of her grandkids go to Woodland. She said the school is surrounded by a tight-knit community. She’s relieved to hear police found Perdue.

“That was a blessing. I just hope and pray that she comes out fine in that situation,” Landon said.

Landon is hoping Perdue recovers quickly and so is her niece.

“It’s good that she’s okay so she can remain to be a nice teacher and a good teacher,” Reid said.

Detectives said Perdue doesn’t have any known medical conditions and she doesn’t take prescription drugs. They said Perdue is happily married.