Body of mom-of-three missing for six years found in a wrecked car at bottom of river
THE body of a mom-of-three missing for six years was found in a wrecked car at bottom of a river this week. The remains found in New Jersey on Thursday were identified as Vanessa Smallwood, 46, who went missing in February 2014, authorities say. Diving contractors were scouting the Salem River for obstructions to shipping […]
THE body of a mom-of-three missing for six years was found in a wrecked car at bottom of a river this week.
The remains found in New Jersey on Thursday were identified as Vanessa Smallwood, 46, who went missing in February 2014, authorities say.
Diving contractors were scouting the Salem River for obstructions to shipping when they made a grisly discovery inside a mangled Chrysler car submerged under water.
ABC 6 reports New Jersey State Police pulled the flattened vehicle out of the river at around 12 pm on Thursday.
An autopsy carried out on Friday confirmed the skeleton belonged to Smallwood, who was reported as a missing person over five years ago.
The cause of her death has yet to be revealed.
Authorities say there has been no evidence of foul play in her death, according to NJ.com.
The mom-of-three was reported missing on February 4, 2014 after she was last spotted outside a Cherry Hill dry cleaners in New Jersey.
Smallwood of Burlington Township was reportedly in a Chrysler Town & Country minivan outside the store while her husband was inside.
But the car and Smallwood had disappeared when he came out of the dry cleaners.
Her phone pinged later that day in Clayton, about a half an hour’s drive away from where she vanished, cops say.
But police revealed there had been no activity on her debit or credit cards after she went missing.
Smallwood was on disability from her contract job at the Philadelphia International Airport when she disappeared and reportedly experienced mental health issues.
The vehicle pulled from the river was a Chrysler but authorities have not confirmed the year and model.
They have yet to reveal how the car ended up at the bottom of the New Jersey river.
Smallwood’s son Brandon Williams posted a heartbreaking tribute to his mother on Facebook after her body was found.
Williams acknowledged her death “messed me all the way up.”
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He said: “[At] least I know you aren’t here to suffer anymore in this destructive world we live in.
“I’ve always know you were no longer here I just didn’t want it to be so when I could no longer sense your Aura I knew you were gone[.]
“Mom I remember so many traditions we had and did together and I promise I’ll continue them with my kids tell them all about their grandma one day I’m glad you found peace mom for whatever that’s worth.”
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