The boyfriend of a missing Richardson Independent School District teacher has been charged with murder after her body was found in New Mexico, authorities say.
Investigators found the woman's body near Carlsbad, NM, after statements allegedly made by the boyfriend led police to her location.
Emily Lambert, a third-grade teacher at O. Henry Elementary School in RISD, had been out of state visiting a friend and vanished on Saturday. Her body was found in Loving, NM, near Carlsbad.
The 30-year-old was last seen leaving a bar in Carlsbad around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night.
Police said her boyfriend, 33-year-old Robert Earley, was arrested around 1 a.m. Wednesday at the Carlsbad Police Department on three charges; one open count of murder, a count of tampering with evidence, and a count of being a fugitive from justice.
Earley is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond in New Mexico.
Capt. Jarod Florez, with the Carlsbad Police Department, said Earley was taken, in custody, out to the location investigators believed the body was located. Lambert's body was found on private property outside the city of Loving.
According to criminal complaint documents provided by New Mexico authorities, Lambert and Earley got into a fight after leaving a bar. Earley spoke to the police at least twice as the investigation into Lambert's disappearance continued.
According to the documents, Earley eventually admitted to police that he got into a physical fight with Lambert and knocked her unconscious. Following that, Earley allegedly took Lambert to another location before she woke up. When Lambert regained consciousness, police documents stated Earley admitted to striking Lambert again, beating her with an air pump that was in the car, and then tying a rope around her neck, wedging it in the passenger-side door, and dragging Lambert to her death.
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Previous to the discovery of her body, Lambert's family had set up a Facebook page searching for her. The family released the following statement after the heartbreaking discovery:
"The essence of Emily is with God. Our family thanks each and everyone one of you for your outpouring of love, prayers, and support over the last few days. It is with our deepest sorrows that we report her body has been found. We don't know any specific details at this time. The detectives will contact us sometime tomorrow. We will use this time to collect your thoughts with our families. Thank you."
The Richardson school district also released a statement, saying:
"We are deeply saddened by the news of the loss of an RISD family member, Emily Lambert, a third grade teacher at O. Henry Elementary. Our condolences to her family, friends, students and co-workers. Grief counselors will be on hand at O. Henry on Wednesday."
NBC 5's Kendra Lyn contributed to an earlier version of the report.
