UNSOLVED VA - Chesterfield Co, Skeletal Remains, in car in Appomattox River, Jun'10

"Police can't even determine the age or gender of the person, as the body has severely decomposed."
"They have been there all day"...."intense investigation".....
I haven;t figured out if it is the media presentation that makes LE appear so inept or if that is really the way they are. Maybe if they run a vin number they can make some connection?
ETA I understand the body not being identifiable as to gender, but not some of their 'investigation. I am just a but put off by the media. They are like starving sharks after fresh meat.
I hope the family does not have to wait long in this case.
 
Who is missing from that area??
 
Who is missing from that area??

Joan Renee Cook
http://www.nampn.org/cases/cook_joan_r.html
Salem is approx 8 miles from Chesterfield.

Letisha (Tish) Faust
http://www.nampn.org/cases/faust_letisha.html
Floyd VA is approx 36 miles from Chesterfield, and she was apparently on the road when she disappeared.

ETA:
Two more from Roanoke (About 5 miles from Chesterfield):

Renita Thompson
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/thompson_renita.html

Suzanne Marie Ryan Patsel
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/patsel_suzanne.html
She was last seen in Roanoke carrying a water bottle, and was apparently supposed to meet someone at the Valley View Mall in Roanoke. Nothing to indicate that she would be in a vehicle outside of Roanoke.
 
Body Found In Submerged Car In Appomattox River

Chesterfield Police are investigating after a decomposed body is found inside a car at the bottom of the Appomattox River.

Police are trying to figure out how that car, containing an unidentified body, came to be at the bottom of the river. Investigators were on scene most of Saturday. They initially thought it was just an abandoned car, but when a dive team broke open a window they discovered human remains.

Body Found in Submerged Vehicle in Appomattox River
 
"Police can't even determine the age or gender of the person, as the body has severely decomposed."

"They have been there all day"...."intense investigation".....

I haven't figured out if it is the media presentation that makes LE appear so inept or if that is really the way they are. Maybe if they run a vin number they can make some connection?

ETA I understand the body not being identifiable as to gender, but not some of their 'investigation. I am just a but put off by the media. They are like starving sharks after fresh meat.

I hope the family does not have to wait long in this case.

In fairness, the cops at the scene probably can't identify much and possibly no ME has taken a look at it yet. That may or may not be too smart though. Investigation probably just means recording rather than actually figuring stuff out, I would hope.

They've also not said what make/model/year of car it is - which would be a very good way of getting an older body identified, if someone were known to have vanished with that vehicle. If someone recently vanished driving, say, a red 2008 Mazda CX7, it would be akin to identifying that person before family could be notified. It makes me think that the body may be fairly recent or we might have heard more.

Saying that it could take weeks to make an ID may also be a way of getting the media away from the story until it can be wrapped up.

Basically what I'm saying is that media could solve this for the police if they want that - and if they don't, they're either missing a trick or they want to preserve a family's privacy (and already have a good idea as to which family).
 
I was trying to get a good location of where on the river it was found, anyone know ?
This article says near I 95:
................................................................................................

Police Lt. Eric Hartman says the vehicle was discovered by a fisherman Saturday near Interstate 95.

http://www.newsplex.com/news/headlines/97265869.html
 
Joan Renee Cook
http://www.nampn.org/cases/cook_joan_r.html
Salem is approx 8 miles from Chesterfield.

Letisha (Tish) Faust
http://www.nampn.org/cases/faust_letisha.html
Floyd VA is approx 36 miles from Chesterfield, and she was apparently on the road when she disappeared.

ETA:
Two more from Roanoke (About 5 miles from Chesterfield):

Renita Thompson
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/thompson_renita.html

Suzanne Marie Ryan Patsel
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/patsel_suzanne.html
She was last seen in Roanoke carrying a water bottle, and was apparently supposed to meet someone at the Valley View Mall in Roanoke. Nothing to indicate that she would be in a vehicle outside of Roanoke.

I was curious and googled Chesterfield, VA and there is in fact a little town very close to Roanoke by that name!

But in this case I think they mean Chesterfield County (outside of Richmond) which is about 160 miles from Roanoke/Salem and 200 miles from Floyd.
 
I can't actually find a place where the Appomattox flows through Chesterfield.

I agree though that it has to be the Chesterfield near Richmond, not Roanoke. Google will only find the other one for me, possibly because I've been to Roanoke and done a few searches for nearby locations there before.

There is a British student, Jonny Dorey, missing from Richmond since March, but I think he's an unlikely match because:

1. Why waste a perfectly good hatchback to dispose of his body;
2. His last cell phone ping was 50 miles in a different direction from his home in Richmond.

There is also a woman called Jill Edmonds, missing from Richmond since January 25. Her vehicle has been recovered, though she has not, making this an unlikely match.
 
Here are all listed MP's from within 100 miles of Petersburg and missing within the last two years.

Sean McCracken (Hampton - About 90 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/mccracken_sean.html

Carla Rodriguez (Stafford - About 90 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/r/rodriguez_carla.html

Elisha Bell (Newport News - About 90 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/bell_elesha.html

Latonya Smith (Portsmouth - About 80 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/smith_latonia.html

Mark Michaux (Cartersville - About 60 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/michaux_mark.html

Aaron Stevens (Chesapeake - About 80 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/stevens_aaron.html

Octavian Holcomb (Chesapeake - About 80 miles from Petersburg)
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/holcomb_octavian.html
 
In fairness, the cops at the scene probably can't identify much and possibly no ME has taken a look at it yet. That may or may not be too smart though. Investigation probably just means recording rather than actually figuring stuff out, I would hope.

They've also not said what make/model/year of car it is - which would be a very good way of getting an older body identified, if someone were known to have vanished with that vehicle. If someone recently vanished driving, say, a red 2008 Mazda CX7, it would be akin to identifying that person before family could be notified. It makes me think that the body may be fairly recent or we might have heard more.

Saying that it could take weeks to make an ID may also be a way of getting the media away from the story until it can be wrapped up.

Basically what I'm saying is that media could solve this for the police if they want that - and if they don't, they're either missing a trick or they want to preserve a family's privacy (and already have a good idea as to which family).
Thanks Cymro. I understand the ID aspect. Just venting on the other and now have a clearer perspective after reading your post. How ever they come to their conclusion, I just hope it is soon. I was just imagining someone in the area wondering if it was a family member. The wait must be terrible.

Thanks Carl for posting the possibles.
 
I agree. If they trace the VIN and the car's owner hasn't been heard from in a while, they may be able to I.D. this person quickly if they can obtain that person's dental records. Or if the owner is missing and matches the general height/weight of the UID but there are no dental records, this might be a "tentative identification" until it can be proven by a DNA match.

Maybe there were no reporters present when the car was actually pulled from the water late at night, because you'd think it would be an operation with big overhead lights and there would have been an opportunity to get a photo of the car and/or figure out what model it was, and yet this information isn't in any of the articles published so far. Hatchbacks can run the gamut from SUV crossovers to subcompacts, although if it was a two-door vehicle I'd guess it's closer to the latter than the former.
 
I can't actually find a place where the Appomattox flows through Chesterfield.

I agree though that it has to be the Chesterfield near Richmond, not Roanoke. Google will only find the other one for me, possibly because I've been to Roanoke and done a few searches for nearby locations there before.

There is a British student, Jonny Dorey, missing from Richmond since March, but I think he's an unlikely match because:

1. Why waste a perfectly good hatchback to dispose of his body;

2. His last cell phone ping was 50 miles in a different direction from his home in Richmond.

There is also a woman called Jill Edmonds, missing from Richmond since January 25. Her vehicle has been recovered, though she has not, making this an unlikely match.

BBM -- because it was a stolen car or used in another crime and they wanted to get rid of it anyway? Not that there's any evidence yet, but it would be a reason.

My first guess would be someone who is missing with their car, who might have wound up in the water from a traffic accident.
 
I have fished in the location where this was found. There is a bridge over the Appomattox River - the bridge connects Petersburg and Colonial Heights, which both border on the south end of Chesterfield. Chesterfield has jurisdiction of the river at that point.
 
Jill Edmonds has been found - several months ago. She was found a week or two before or after Kelly Catalano.

Letitia Faust has also been found - in a ravine, in Franklin Co., VA on March 22.

Joan Renee Cook - left on foot from her Salem, Roanoke Co., VA home (which is around 3 hours away from Chesterfield). She did not have a car and as far as I know did not have access to one.
 

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