Mystery of New York couple's 1980 disappearance unravels

NEW YORK -- The mystery behind a wealthy New York couple's disappearance 44 years ago is starting to unravel.

Charles and Catharine Romer vanished while driving home to Scarsdale from Florida in 1980, but a car recently found in a Georgia pond is the break that eluded investigators for decades.

Water search team used sonar to crack cold case

Shelly McKinney works with the Sunshine State Sonar Team, which tries to crack cold cases by using sonar to search water for vehicles of missing people.

"We make our maps and one by one we start from where they were last seen and kind of work our way out," McKinney said.

The team decided to investigate the disappearance of the Romers, who vanished after spending a night at a hotel in Brunswick, Georgia -- more than 900 miles from their home on Popham Road in Scarsdale.

On Nov. 22, in the pond directly behind the hotel, the Sonar Team located the missing couple's Lincoln Continental. After the pond was drained, human remains were found inside.

Wednesday, Kim Romer, the couple's granddaughter, said authorities have identified the remains as Charles and Catharine Romer.

In a statement, Romer said, "We are deeply saddened and equally relieved that our grandparents Charles and Catharine 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 (Catharine's son) 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 all just figured ... somebody followed them and robbed them"

Reports said divers searched the pond in 1980. It's possible they simply missed what modern sonar was able to detect.

"As dark and murky as that water, and as muddy as they reported it was, it's likely that it just got missed," said McKinney.

"We never knew what happened to any of them. We just all figured somebody had, with all the money they had, somebody followed them and robbed them," said Andy Mavromat, a former clerk at the hotel. 

Many people at a senior center near Scarsdale remember the case.

"They were missing, and they were investigating it as a criminal situation and not an accidental situation," said Reva Carapella.

The discovery now has investigators thinking Charles Romer may have accidentally driven into the pond. They will continue the probe to give the Romer family the answers they've been looking for for decades.

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