Woman missing for 20 years found in submerged car

[LadyBlue]

Remains of woman missing for 20 years found in submerged car

A woman that has been missing since 1993, has been found in her car that was found submerged in a Florida canal on Thursday.

On June 30, 1993, Frances Hendrickson, 64, from Punta Gorda, Fla. told her son that she was planning on going to the grocery store and the bank the following day. On July 1, she was seen by a neighbor leaving her home in her 1987 light blue Buick station wagon with vanity plates "SNO BURD" around 10 a.m. She was never seen again.

Hendrickson seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth, but new sonar technology proved what authorities believed all along, that she had accidentally driven her car into a canal.

"I walked seawalls looking for marks, oil slicks, looking for a glint in the water. It never came up," recalled Charles Gibbs, the first police officer to investigate Henrickson's disappearance, reports NBC2.

Then on Wednesday, authorities using new sonar equipment began searching the water behind the intersection of Whippoorwill Blvd. and found Hendrickson's station wagon with skeletal remains and clothing inside, reports the News Press.

Although the remains will need to be examined by the Medical Examiner, police are positive they have found the remains of Hendrickson.

"Twenty years after the fact, we are relieved to have finally provided closure in ths case," said Punta Gorda Police Chief Albert Arenal.

Police are not calling the case suspicious and believe that Hendrickson simply drove off the road into the water.
www.examiner.com/article/remains-of-woman-missing-for-20-years-found-submerged-car

Too many times there ARE NO MARKS to indicate that a vehicle left the roadway. Do not just assume a vehicle is not there, look IN THE WATER!!

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[LadyBlue]

There is just no excuse for this.

Human remains found in a vehicle earlier this month is that of a woman who went missing back in 1993.

On June 30, 1993, Punta Gorda Police Officers responded to the 3700 block of Whippoorwill Blvd. for a report of a missing 64 year-old woman.

The missing woman, Frances Hendrickson was last seen by a neighbor driving her 1987 light blue colored Buick station wagon.

Approximately two years ago, the case regained momentum using sonar to search City canals for the missing woman’s vehicle. Detectives teamed up with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in the effort. Using a new advanced sonar technology, a light blue colored station wagon was discovered in a canal behind the intersection of Whippoorwill Blvd. and Eider Street, just blocks from the missing woman’s home. That sonar picture is the one to the right. This area was previously searched by air and water numerous times.

On January 17, members of the Punta Gorda Police Department Dive Team, Lee County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Forensic Unit, as well as a representative from the Mote Marine Laboratory, began the operation of recovering the vehicle from the canal, where detectives and forensic analysts subsequently discovered clothing items and skeletal human remains.

Today, the Punta Gorda Police Department was notified that the skeletal remains were examined by the Charlotte County Medical Examiner’s Office. A dental comparison positively identified the remains as that of Frances Hendrickson. The family of Ms. Hendrickson has been notified.
www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/remains-found-in-vehicle-identified-as-missing-woman/article_cbf66644-699a-11e2-bc23-001a4bcf6878.html

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