Indianapolis News and Headlines

Actions

Heritage Christian School mourns 'tragic loss' of staff member whose body was found on campus

Posted at 2:35 PM, Apr 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-28 19:41:34-04

INDIANAPOLIS – The body of a Heritage Christian School staff member was found on campus Thursday morning, according to a letter to parents from school administrators.

The discovery was made around 7:30 a.m. behind the school's stadium, located near the intersection of Binford Boulevard and 75th Street.

The body was determined to be that of 42-year-old Matt Carrao, who worked as the school's director of operations and technology and also taught computer science classes.

Heritage Christian CEO Jeff Freeman sent the following message to parents Thursday afternoon after Carrao's body was discovered:

We are shocked and deeply saddened to report a tragic loss.

One of our staff members, Matt Carrao, was found deceased on campus near the stadium field this morning. Additional information is limited at this time.   We would reiterate our earlier message that appropriate diligence was taken to insure that our campus was safe and secure as we continued with our standard school day. 

Professional Christian counselling will be available beginning Friday morning through our Discipleship Department to help our community deal with this loss.  Your student may or may not be aware of this situation.   Please help us in processing this with your student as appropriate.

We serve a God who loves us and is there for us each and every step of the way in our lives … in both easy times and difficult times.  Please join me in calling on our mighty God as we process together and as we pray for the Carrao family.

Carrao leaves behind a wife and two sons. According to a testimonial on Heritage Christian's website, the Carraos had served in the past as a host family for an international student at the school – something Carrao described as an "incredible experience for our entire family."

"We knew God would use our family to bless Stephanie, but we were surprised by how much God used Stephanie to reveal His unfathomable love to all of us," Carrao wrote.

Police were treating the case as a death investigation. No indications of foul play were immediately reported.