On Oct. 14, detectives from the Indiana State Police-Versailles Post began a missing person investigation after a vehicle connected to a 2002 missing person investigation from Delhi Township, Ohio was located in the Ohio River near Aurora, Indiana.
In April 2002, the Delhi Township Police Department began investigating the disappearance of Stephanie Van Nguyen, age 26, and her two children, Kristina, age 4, and John, age 3. Nguyen was last known to be driving her 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. Information gathered at the time indicated that Nguyen left a note that she was going to drive into the Ohio River however, her vehicle was not located at the time.
The Delhi Township Police Department began looking into the case again recently. A thorough search of the river using side sonar scan technology led divers to locate a vehicle that matched the description of Nguyen’s vehicle. The registration plate on the vehicle confirmed the vehicle belonged to Nguyen.
Dive teams from the Hamilton County Police Association and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources with the assistance of Schaffer’s Towing worked to bring the vehicle to the surface. The vehicle was located at a depth of over 50 feet and was approximately 300 feet from the bank of the river.
Last week, anthropologists with the University of Indianapolis along with Indiana State Police Investigators examined the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. They believe a bone recovered from the vehicle is a human bone. They have sent it to a lab for additional testing.
In the meantime, the investigation is ongoing.
Republished courtesy of Indiana State Police. Photo credit: ISP.