Authorities expect to complete the autopsy Friday for a Colorado woman who went missing in Texas last month after traveling the world with her husband , police said . There will be no further updates in the case until the autopsy is complete , Garden Ridge , Texas , Police Chief Donna O'Conner said . Leanne Hecht Bearden had recently returned to the United States after 22 months crisscrossing the globe with her husband , Josh Bearden . Police said Thursday her life may have ended in the woods near a home in central Texas . The couple , who got married at the Denver Zoo and joked on their blog that they epitomized the adage `` opposites attract , '' had traveled with just carry-on backpacks to some of the world 's most rugged locations . The couple 's blog indicates they left in January 2012 , traveling across the United States and visiting Canada before venturing on to Oceania , Asia , Africa , Europe and South America . The trip included stops in New Zealand , China , Singapore , Myanmar , Cambodia , India , Rwanda , Egypt , Serbia , Ukraine , Lithuania and Bolivia . Bearden documented trips to a Mount Everest base camp , the Dead Sea , an Indian wedding , Tanzania 's Mount Kilimanjaro , Africa 's Victoria Falls and Serengeti , South America 's Patagonia and Bolivia 's salt flats . Authorities announced Thursday that a body believed to be the 33-year-old woman had been found in Garden Ridge , where she was last seen January 17 heading out from her in-laws ' house for what was supposed to be a one-hour walk . Family members later confirmed her death , saying on a Facebook page dedicated to finding her that they were `` understandably devastated . '' `` Leanne was a lovely and remarkable young woman , '' the family said , `` and we will all miss her greatly . '' Just a few hours earlier Thursday , a post on the same page echoed the optimism and energy that had marked the family 's efforts to find Bearden . `` DO N'T LET UP ! '' they urged all those who had joined them in looking for Bearden . `` We are still hopeful . '' That hope was dashed after a phone call from a man to police around 12:15 p.m. ( 1:15 p.m . ET ) Thursday , saying there was a body `` in a wooded area near his home in Garden Ridge , '' O'Conner said . O'Conner said responding officers `` located what we believe to be the body of Leanne Bearden . '' `` We will reserve any information regarding the cause of death until an autopsy has been performed , '' the chief said . `` Our thoughts are with the Bearden and Hecht families , and ( we ) ask that you respect them in their time of grief . '' The Beardens returned from their world travels in December , spending a short time in Georgia before heading to visit his family in Garden Ridge , just northeast of San Antonio , according to her brother Michael Hecht . Family : Strong possibility Bearden meant to leave . Coming back to her native country was n't necessarily easy , her family suggested . `` The pressure of transitioning from her two-year trip back into what we consider 'normal ' life seems to have left her very anxious and stressed , '' they said . After she went missing , relatives and friends worked intently to spread the word as the search for her -- on the ground and from the air , using helicopters -- expanded . One such search in January covered 23 acres . Garden Ridge police noted their concern about Bearden that month , while adding `` there is no indication at this time that ( her disappearance ) is criminal in nature . '' Her family , meanwhile , acknowledged on Facebook that `` there is evidence that Leanne may have voluntarily left the area . '' Whether or not that was true , the family pleaded for the public 's help finding her given that -- for all her travels -- the 5-foot-3-inch Bearden `` is extremely vulnerable '' and `` her mental and physical status is uncertain . '' `` We fear for her greatly , '' her family said .
Police chief says there will be no updates until after Friday 's autopsy . Leanne Hecht Bearden had recently returned to the U.S. after a 22-month global trek . Bearden 's family is `` understandably devastated '' and `` we will all miss her greatly '' She was last seen January 17 , leaving her in-laws ' house in Texas for a walk .