Missing Vermont college student Leah Smith’s body was discovered during the search

The body has been found while searching for the missing person Student at Vermont College who was last seen on campus a week ago.

Leah Smith, 21, was last seen on the Middlebury College campus the night of Oct. 17 and was reported missing Sunday, the school announced. Smith, a trans woman from California, is a senior double majoring in computer science and statistics and a former player on the Middlebury women’s swimming and diving team.

Around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Vermont State Police said they found an unidentified body in a field west of the Middlebury College campus. The site where the body was found is in the town of Cornwall near The Knoll, the college’s organic farm, the agency said.

Lia Smith, 21, was reported missing Sunday, last seen on campus Friday around 9 p.m. (Middlebury Police Department)

Vermont police search for missing Middlebury College student

Police said they secured the area and started investigating the death. At this time, authorities are awaiting an autopsy to confirm the victim’s identity and determine the cause and manner of death.

That autopsy is scheduled for Friday in Burlington, Vermont. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vermont Department of Health for comment.

At this time, investigators said they don’t believe it death is suspicious.

Icon of Middlebury College in Vermont. (Toby Talbot/AP)

The unsolved murder of a college student shines a spotlight on the serial killer as new theories emerge

Police initially said they would hold a live press update Thursday afternoon, but canceled it before it began. The Middlebury Police Department called in additional agencies, including the Vermont State Police, New York State Police and others FBIAfter days of ground searches and drones trying to find Smith to help.

Middlebury College President Ian Baucom said in a statement on Instagram Thursday that the college is “doing everything it can to support our community right now.”

“I know this news is extremely difficult to receive as we hold Lia and all her family and friends in our hearts,” he wrote. “As always, please take care of yourself and each other.”

Old Chapel on the campus of Middlebury College in Vermont. Middlebury College is considered a “Little Ivy,” a term for small, elite liberal arts colleges with an academic reputation comparable to the Ivy League. (John Grimm/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Click here to download the Fox News app

Middlebury College is a prestigious private liberal arts college, known as “Little Ivy”. Addison County, VermontLocated in the state’s Champlain Valley. According to the college, the campus population is about 2,800 undergraduate students.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Middlebury Police Department and Middlebury College for comment.