Ottawa police have discovered a body, but they don't know yet if it's missing teenager Jennifer Teague, whose family home is about a 10-minute drive from where the body was discovered.

"Because of the area that the human remains were found, because of the proximity where Jennifer was last seen, we do not discard the possibility that could be Jennifer," said Staff Sgt. Monique Ackland on Sunday. "However, without identification, we cannot speculate."

An off-duty police officer discovered the body as he went for a walk with his family. Someone had partially covered the human remains with branches.

The as-yet unidentified body was found off the parking lot of a popular walking trail near the woods, on parkland where patrols were stepped up after Teague's disappearance.

"We were patrolling by ATVs, we were walking and on bicycles, as well as going through all the trails in the area as well as the parking lots," said Marie-Eve Letourneau, spokesperson for the National Capital Commission, the agency responsible for the parkland.

The 18-year-old went missing in the early morning hours of Sept. 8, shortly after she finished working a shift at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant. Neither her cellphone nor her credit card have been used since she went missing.

Witnesses reported hearing some screams that night.

Teague lived with her family in a quiet, family-oriented Ottawa suburb called Barrhaven -- which is feeling a little more like a big city now.

"It's very sad," said one area resident, Anna Zaborski. "I'm a mother. I have a 15-year-old daughter, so I feel awful about this whole thing."

A police forensic team was working Sunday night to identify the body.

In a similar case in Edmonton, Alta. earlier this summer, it took a few days for forensic professionals to confirm the identity of Liana White, a pregnant mother found dead in a ditch about a 15-minute drive from her family home.

While a few bodies have been found since Markham, Ont. woman Alicia Ross went missing last month, none have turned out to be the missing woman.

To date, police have not been able to determine the 25-year-old's fate, although they believe foul play is involved.

With a report from CTV's Rosemary Thompson