SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP -- A body was found Tuesday during the search for a missing mother, the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Department confirms.
The body was found in a wooded area in Saybrook Township near North Bend and Nineveh Roads.
Officials began looking 23-year-old Rand Al Dulaimi July 11 after she mysteriously disappeared July 9.
Dulaimi went missing after dropping off her 2-year-old son with relatives but never showed up for her job at a senior center.
According to Sheriff Bill Johnson, they are awaiting information from the coroner's office before positively identifying the body.
"But we are no longer searching," the sheriff added.
Investigators from the sheriff's department, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, and FBI agents have focused their intense search by air, and on the ground, in the wooded areas around the home of Al Dulaimi's estranged husband, Jeffrey Stanley. Investigators said that she was last seen at Stanley's home on Nineveh Road, about a mile from where the body was found Tuesday night.
Stanley was named a "person of interest" in the case, and was arrested last week for an unrelated parole violation. He is currently being held in the Ashtabula County jail.
Neighbors tell Channel 3 News that they hope the discovery will bring closure to Al Dulaimi's family and for the community.
"You have helicopters flying around. People are wondering," said Mark DeGennaro. "You hope that they'll be able to answer some questions," he said.
Sheriff Johnson did not want to reveal any details on exactly where the body was found, or what led investigators to find the body in the dense woods.
"I know that our officers are relieved that we located this, though we would have liked to have had a different outcome - If it's her," said the sheriff.
Court records show that Stanley was arrested in April 2017 for trespassing, domestic violence, and endangering children. A jury found him guilty of trespassing and endangering children, and a judge sentenced him to probation. The judge also ordered Stanley not to have contact with Al Dulaimi. Court records also show a warrant was issued for his arrest earlier this month, for violating terms of his probation.
In September 2017, Al Dulaimi filed for divorce, but court records show that the proceedings were never finalized.
Stay with WKYC for updates as they become available.