( CNN ) -- A car with a body inside believed to be that of missing teacher Terrilynn Monette was found Saturday in a bayou in New Orleans , authorities said . The car and body were found in Bayou St. John by a diver with the Slidell Police Department , who volunteered to dive the waterways in the search for Monette , Detective Daniel Seuzeneau of the Slidell Police Department , said . The body is believed to be that of Monette , he said in an e-mail statement to CNN . Monette , 26 , was last seen March 2 leaving Parlay 's Dream Lounge in New Orleans , where she had been celebrating with friends her nomination for a `` Teacher of the Year '' award . Monette 's mother , Toni Enclade , told CNN that investigators have notified her the car has been found , but not whether the body is her daughter . `` To know that she could have possibly been there for three months , '' she said , overcome with emotion . Enclade said she does not know when she will be given a definitive answer by authorities . `` I ca n't even begin to go there right now , '' she said . `` I 'm in shock . I ca n't believe this . I just ca n't believe this . '' Authorities have focused a large part of their search efforts on the waterways because Monette would have had to have driven across the bayou to get from the bar to her home . Devoted teacher vanishes without a trace . In mid-March , an independent search and rescue team from Texas volunteer to comb the lagoons and waterways . It discovered a car in the bayou , but it was later confirmed not to belong to Monette . Family and friends of Monette put up a billboard in New Orleans and created a Facebook page , `` We Love You Terrilynn Monette , '' to help generate tips in the search for Monette . The diver who found the car and body , Slidell Police Officer Mark Michaud , has been `` working closely with the Monette family '' because of his expertise in diving recoveries , Seuzeneau said . When Monette , of Long Beach , California , learned of the `` teachNOLA '' program , which sends educators to New Orleans to teach in impoverished areas , she packed her bags and headed to Louisiana . `` I always wanted to be a teacher , and what better place to teach than New Orleans , where passionate teachers are needed most ? '' she said in a 2011 video obtained by CNN affiliate WDSU . In her first year of teaching second grade at Woodland West Elementary School , Monette turned one of the lowest-performing classes into one of the highest achieving . It earned her a `` Teacher of the Year '' nomination in her school district . CNN 's Scott Thompson and Don Lemon contributed to this report .
NEW : Police have told Terrilynn Monette 's mother they found the car and a body , she says . A police diver has found a car with a body inside believed to be Monette , police say . Monette , 26 , was last seen March 2 leaving a New Orleans bar . She was celebrating with friends a `` Teacher of the Year '' nomination .