MARINE CITY (WWJ) The vehicle belonging to an 84-year-old Casco Twp. woman, missing since May, has been found in the St. Clair River.
The St. Clair County Sheriff said Nadine Moses’ 2011 dark blue Ford Edge was discovered about 30 feet offshore of St. Clair Aggregates on South Belle River Avenue.
A body has been found inside the car, but it has not yet been identified as the missing woman.
Investigators told WWJ a volunteer Oregon-based diving group, Adventures with a Purpose, found the vehicle on Saturday afternoon using advanced SONAR technology.
The group contacted the Sheriff’s Office—who responded with its own dive team and attached cables of a towing truck to the Ford Edge.
After they brought the SUV to shore, deputies found the body inside and removed it.
Adventures with a Purpose contacted Moses’ family.
“Detectives from our office are continuing the investigation,” Sheriff Mat King said in a press release. “We will be working hand in hand with the St. Clair County Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the body and hopefully bring closure to a grieving family.”
Moses’ family was at the scene of the recovery.
Moses has been missing since May 4, just one week before Mother’s Day.
“She left the house in her car after making sure the house was tidy and locked up ... no traces of any hurry or rushed exit,” her son, Todd, said in a public post on Facebook shortly after her disappearance. “…Her cellphone was dead when she left (of course)."
Her family said she was starting to have “memory issues.”
Dozens of people had participated in organized searches to various locations she frequented, and a drone had flown overhead to look for her in the days immediately following her disappearance, according to her son.
“There is a prayer team taking shifts to offer prayers on her behalf around the clock ... at all times,” he said.
Authorities said she had a full tank of gas and $50 with her at the time she went missing. The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said Moses’ cellphone data revealed she had been driving from about 2:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. in the areas of Ira, Casco, Cottreville, China and East China Townships, and Marine City on the morning of May 4.
They believe her vehicle was caught on two surveillance cameras during that time. That was the last known sign of her until Saturday, September 25.
The St. Clair County Medical Examiner’s Office will work to identify her body.
On the day before the one-month anniversary of her disappearance, Todd posted in a public post on Facebook a photo of vibrant pink peonies beside the caption: “Thinking of Mom.”
“Each year, she would decorate the table with a vase of these fragrant flowers…" he wrote. "So in honor of Mom…they take their place on the dining room table to keep a piece of her nearby.”
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Our story about Moses three weeks into the search for her: