Investigators now believe Pratico left Mercer County Community College on his first day of class Sept. 20, walked across the street to a wooded area and took his own life.
Search dogs were investigating the area around the college Monday morning and led police to Pratico's body on a private stretch of land across from the college's main entrance in West Windsor.
The area where Pratico was found appears to have been obscured by corn stalks that were cut down a week ago.
The search on Monday was the third time authorities had enlisted the assistance of police dogs. The first was on Sept. 23, days after he went missing and included areas that surrounded the college. At the time of the Sept. 23 search, Stevens said the area where Pratico was later found was "overgrown with corn" and authorities did not go deep into the wooded area where the body was recovered.
Volunteers also organized multiple searches in the weeks since Pratico went missing. It is unclear if the area across from the college was part of those searches.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2017/10/college_teens_body_found_during_k-9_search.html