Human remains found in a SUV submerged in the Ohio River belong to a woman who vanished almost 20 years ago with her two young children, authorities say.
Stephanie Van Nguyen was 26 when she disappeared with her 4-year-old daughter, Kristina, and 3-year-old son, Jonathan, in April 2002. She had left a note that said she was going to drive her 1997 Nissan Pathfinder into the Ohio River.
At the time, authorities searched the water but did not find any trace of the woman or her children.
DNA testing on the bone shows that it belonged to Nguyen. There was no trace of her children in the vehicle.
Indiana State Police
In astatement, Dearborn County Coroner Cameron McCreary said that since no other human remains were found inside the SUV, Nguyen’s children will remain listed as missing persons. There are plans for divers to search the area once the weather improves, McCreary says.
“I am happy we were able to finally give Ms. Nguyen’s family some closure in this almost two decade long search for their loved one,” McCreary’s statement reads.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
According to the Charley Project, which tracks missing persons cases, Nguyen had expressed a desire to commit suicide before she vanished.
Nguyen was last seen on April 19, the day after they left home, when a police officer stopped the mother in her car near a boat ramp to the Ohio River, the site reports. The officer allegedly noticed the two children asleep in the backseat of the vehicle. It was the last known sighting of any of them.
source: people.com
