Family confirms remains of missing NY couple found in Georgia after decades-long cold case
SCARSDALE, New York (WABC) -- The family of a Westchester County couple missing for more than 40 years confirmed that the remains found at the bottom of a pond in Georgia are Charles and Catherine Romer.
The Romer family released a statement saying:
"We are deeply saddened and equally relieved that our grandparents Charles and Catherine Romer's 44-year mystery disappearance has been solved. While this discovery brings closure, it still has been very emotional. Sadly, Charles Romer Jr, Jim Romer and Frank Heller are not with us to share this momentous turn of events and to know their parents will finally be laid to rest in peace. We want to express our gratitude to Glynn County Police, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Sunshine State Sonar for their time dedication and expertise. A special appreciation and thanks goes out to Jason Souhrada Myrtle Beach, SC. Jason pinpointed the exact location of the vehicle and shared his findings with all the agencies involved."
The missing persons mystery of Charles and Catherine Romer of Scarsdale, New York, has perplexed investigators for 44 years, since they disappeared in April 1980. It had haunted their families ever since.
"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," said Christine Seaman Heller, granddaughter of the missing woman.
But on Monday, Seaman Heller learned that the clues to solve the mystery were at the bottom of a retention pond off I-95 in south Georgia.
Last Friday, a team of divers found the rusting, deteriorating remains of a 1979 Lincoln Continental, the vehicle Seaman Heller's grandmother Catherine and her husband Charles, an oil company executive, were in when they vanished.
Investigators found a human bone inside the vehicle. Detectives with the Glynn County Police Department worked with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to drain the pond in a search for more remains.
"The rust, corrosion, all kinds of bacteria is gonna develop on that car. And in trying to clean that stuff to see if you can find something...it's going to be difficult," Ken Jefferson, a crime and safety expert, said.
But what had been incredibly difficult for Catherine Romer's nine grandchildren, all sisters, was thinking all these years that their beloved grandmother and her husband had been victims of a terrible crime and had suffered.
Catherine and Charles Romer were friends, both widowed, who married a few years earlier.
Their disappearance had Catherine Romer's son, Seaman's late father, traveling to Georgia for years searching for answers.
"That was all we were consumed about until, you know, today," Seaman Heller said. "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."
Investigators pieced together these facts:
The Romers were on their way back to New York following a vacation in Miami.
They checked into the Brunswick Holiday Inn, which is now called the Royal Inn.
The retention pond is right near where the Romers were staying. It was practically right under the noses of investigators, who conducted one of the most extensive searches in state history to find the couple, who were in their 70s when they disappeared.
The following day, housekeepers found bags and personal items in their motel room.
One of the divers told a local reporter in Georgia that perhaps the couple accidentally put the car in reverse and drove into the pond, adding the signs right now indicate a tragic accident.
"I just hope it's gonna bring whatever happens, however it plays out, it brings closure for the family," Andy Mavermat, former Holiday Inn manager, said.
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