Cocaine found in system of Burlington County drowning victim

The death of Sarah Townsend, the Burlington County teenager who was found at the bottom of a pond earlier this year, has been ruled a suicide.

The 18-year-old had "significant" levels of cocaine in her system at the time of her death, authorities said Tuesday, citing a toxicology report.

The announcement by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office came two months after a massive, five-day search for the teen, whose car was found abandoned in Green Acres Park in Burlington Township.

The prosecutor's office also confirmed, for the first time, earlier reports that a suicide note had been found in Townsend's car.

Townsend, a popular field hockey player at Allentown High School in Monmouth County, was last seen about 7 a.m. May 9 when she left her home in Florence Township to drive to school.

Her boyfriend told police that they had been in communication that morning. Concerned, he headed to the park, which the couple had visited regularly, and found her car about 10 a.m.

The search for the teenager prompted national attention, as her family held out hope that she might have run away. They posted fliers across the state, offered a $10,000 reward, and pleaded for her return on CNN.

The fact that Townsend's car was found running, with her purse and cellphone still inside, puzzled investigators.

Authorities searched Sherman Pond and the roughly three square miles of woods around it for a day and a half before focusing on interviews with friends and family.

Townsend had been in the midst of preparing for two proms and was "happy and talking about what she would do with her hair," her aunt, Coleen Makovicz, said at the time.

But on May 13, authorities, out of leads, returned to the park to resume their search.

About 1 p.m. divers found Townsend's body in the six- to 10-foot-deep pond.

The county medical examiner found no signs of trauma or foul play and determined that Townsend had drowned herself.