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Human Remains, Car Found In Pond Linked To Westchester Couple Missing For Over 40 Years

A vehicle containing a human bone found submerged in an out-of-state pond may be the clue needed to figure out what happened to a Westchester County couple missing for over four decades.

A view of the pond where the missing Lincoln Continental was found. 

A view of the pond where the missing Lincoln Continental was found. 

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view

In an announcement on Saturday, Nov. 23, the Glynn County Police Department in Georgia revealed that a submerged Lincoln Continental had been found on Friday, Nov. 22 in a pond between the Royal Inn Hotel and Interstate 95 on New Jesup Highway in the town of Brunswick. 

According to the department, the Continental is similar to the description of a vehicle believed to have been driven by Scarsdale residents Charles and Catherine Romer, who were reported missing in April 1980.

The couple, who had married a few years before their disappearance and were in their 70s at the time, had been on their way home to New York after vacationing in Miami. 

They checked into the Brunswick Holiday Inn (now known as the Royal Inn Hotel), and the next day, housekeepers found bags and personal items in the room after their disappearance, according to a report by ABC7. 

The outlet also reported that one of the divers who helped find the Lincoln thought that maybe the couple accidentally put the vehicle in reverse and backed into the pond 

When investigators looked inside the submerged car after its discovery, they found one human bone, prompting them to drain the entire body of water to see if more remains could be found. 

The retention pond was originally searched in 1980, but the sonar technology back then may have missed what today's equipment could detect, according to a report by CBS News. 

The outlet reported an interview with Shelly McKinney, a member of the Florida-based Sunshine State Sonar Team that found the car: "As dark and murky as that water, and as muddy as they reported it was, it's likely that it just got missed." 

After the discovery, Catherine Romer's granddaughter, Christine Seaman Heller, commented on the development, as reported by ABC7: "All the investigations and psychics and everything, the police, they worked so hard, and Blackwater divers have been searching for years. 

"And they thought it was foul play. ... I was talking about it yesterday with a friend of mine because it's always been such a mystery. So, it would be so wonderful to find out, just have some peace. You know maybe it wasn't a horrible ending, maybe it was just an accident."

Although the car is believed to be linked to the missing couple, investigators have not yet made any conclusion about the identity of the remains found inside. 

The investigation remains ongoing, according to the Glynn County Police Department. 

This is a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates. 

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