HIGHLAND FALLS, N.Y. – A 7-year-old girl was found stabbed to death at a parochial school Thursday, and police said they had no suspects as of late afternoon.
Jerica Rhodes' (search) body was discovered about 75 minutes after classes started Thursday morning at Sacred Heart of Jesus School, police Chief Peter Miller said. He would not say exactly where the girl's body was discovered but said it was in an area she would not normally be.
Parents rushed to pick up their children after learning of the slaying.
Jerica's father, Chris Rhodes, 27, dropped her off at school around 8:10 a.m. during a school assembly and she wasn't seen again until her body was discovered, police said. After questioning Rhodes, the son of a former village police chief, police said they do not consider him a suspect.
A woman who answered a phone listed for the Rhodes family declined to comment.
The school, run by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York (search), has 240 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.
The school will remain closed Friday, but counselors will be available to help students and family members, said diocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling. Each school family was to be called Thursday evening, he said.
"We recognize the impact this can have on the broader community as well," Zwilling said.
Highland Falls is near West Point, about 50 miles up the Hudson River (search) from New York City.
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