Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, November 15, 2018
(FLORIDA, MI) - The body of a former Indiana University IU ballerina was found Wednesday morning in Mark Twain Lake.
A private plane pilot saw what he believed to be a person in the water and notified the Missouri Highway Patrol. Police found the body of Raffaella Stroik around 9:40 a.m. near the boat ramp. The state park is located in rural Monroe County, Missouri, about 130 miles from St. Louis, where Stroik lived.
The 23-year-old had been missing since Monday, November 12. She was last seen around 10:30 a.m. at a Whole Foods store in St. Louis.
Police have not yet said what led to the dancer's death. However, Sgt. Eric Brown with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a news conference that authorities have not seen any evidence of "foul play." Authorities are awaiting an autopsy before determining a cause of death.
Raffaella Stroik was a dancer with the St. Louis Ballet Company. She graduated in 2013 from South Bend Saint Joseph High School and danced with Southold Dance Theater of South Bend and attended the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington.
Among other performances, she danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2012 and 2015 Southold productions of "The Nutcracker."
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.