Police said they don't suspect foul play was involved on a body that is believed to be that of Barrie, Ont. teen Brandon Crisp.
"Police want the public to know that they are not suspicious of foul play and that there is no concern for public safety," the Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Thursday evening.
Police say it's hoped that an autopsy scheduled for Friday would confirm that the body is that of Crisp, and that it will give investigators a cause of death, as well as insight into the final moments of his life after he ran away from home on Thanksgiving Day.
"They originally thought (the autopsy) would be today, but it will be (Friday) morning at 10:30," Const. George Silvestri of the OPP told ctvtoronto.ca on Thursday about the post-mortem exam.
Crisp ran away from home after a dispute with his parents over the amount of time he was spending playing with his Xbox.
Hunters found a body believed to be Brandon's in a field northwest of the city on Wednesday -- three weeks after the 15-year-old went missing on Oct. 13.
Barrie mourns dead teen
Michael O'Keefe of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board said grief counsellors were on-hand yesterday at St. Joseph's High School, where Brandon attended along with one of his sisters.
Counsellors will also be available to the school's 1,100 students today and Friday if necessary, O'Keefe told CTV's Canada AM.
"We support them in terms of the belief that Brandon's life has changed but not ended. That's a strong element of our Catholic faith," he said.
He described students as "sad" and "shocked" by the news on Wednesday.
"Brandon was in Grade 10 and his older sister is in Grade 12, so overall the impact is on about 50 per cent of the school," he said.
Sergio, a classmate of Brandon's, told CTV Toronto he was shocked by the news.
"Everyone really expected Brandon to be back," he said. "We had a lot of prayers, we really came together as a community and we really had faith Brandon was going to come back."
Friends of the teen and school staff prepared a memorial in the school with candles, pictures and messages for the grieving family.
"There's a lot of grief, a lot of emotion but generally the atmosphere is very calm," said Matt McCann, the school principal.
On Wednesday, when news began to emerge that a body had been found, the school held an assembly to provide students with official information.
A prayer service was also held at the school, and a candlelight vigil was held Wednesday night in the community.
Leigh Gate, who helped organize volunteer search teams that scoured much of the Barrie area searching for Brandon, said the body was found just outside of the search area.
Teams of volunteers covered roughly 180 metres on each side of roads in the area. However, the body was found about 300 metres from the road, Gate told Canada AM.
"The search did a great job of covering outside of where the police were searching," Gate said.
"We covered a great deal of land from the 4th Line of Oro all the way to the 14th Line and in the case of where Brandon's body was found, we were within a few hundred yards of where he was."
He said the news that a body had been found was devastating to Crisp's friends and family, as well as searchers, who had held onto hope that Crisp would be found alive.
"It was a possibility we really didn't want to consider. So as the news was filtering through yesterday, really shock is the word," Gate said.
Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of the Barrie Police said the case has touched officers who worked on the search for Brandon.
"I think we all went home last night and gave our kids a bigger hug and a tighter hug than we ever have," he said Thursday.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Ken Regular
