MESA, AZ — Police have confirmed a body found Tuesday at a Mesa home is a woman who had been missing since earlier this month.
Mesa police said it appears the shooting of Valarie Fairchild was self-inflicted.
Officers were called to Fairchild's neighborhood near Sossaman Road and Main Street on Tuesday night for a report of suspicious activity. They were told by someone living at a home there that there was a dead person on the property, according to a police spokesperson.
Police found the body and began their investigation into what was initially being reported as a suspicious death.
Mesa police said Wednesday, "while detectives visited the residence several times during the investigation, the body was ultimately located in a very obscure location."
Fairchild was last seen near her home around 2:30 p.m. on January 14. Friends and family, worried about her safety, put up flyers in the area and said she disappeared without her car, wallet, purse or phone.
Police said no one was in custody in connection with the discovery of the body.
