Holly MatkinPhiladelphia, PA – The body of a woman reported missing three weeks ago has been found approximately a half mile from the location where she crashed her car on July 10, according to police.
Cassandra “Casey” Johnston, 26, went missing last month after she went to visit a friend’s house near Vine Street and 12th Street, WPVI reported.
Family members grew concerned when she never returned home, so they contacted police.
Investigators said Johnston was last seen driving a 2016 Ford Focus with Pennsylvania license plates, WPVI reported.
In addition to the police investigation and wide circulation of Johnston’s photo and story on social media and local billboards, her family hired private investigator Keith Ryan to identify and retrace the path she would have been most likely to have traveled on her way home on July 10.
Ryan searched the area using a helicopter and located the missing woman’s car in a wooded area near Woodhaven Road and Roosevelt Boulevard on Saturday, WPVI reported.
Johnston’s body was discovered by police on Sunday near the Byberry Creek in the area of Townsend Road.
We’re coming up on 3 WEEKS that Casey Johnston has been missing! Please share! WE NEED HER FOUND AND BROUGHT HOME SAFELY! pic.twitter.com/U8y5cU5bd8
— fe ☾ (@felicianunezz) July 29, 2021
According to Lower Southampton Township Police Chief Ted Krimmel, investigators believe Johnston crashed her car while trying to negotiate a curve in the road, KYW reported.
“It appears she didn’t negotiate the curve properly,” Chief Krimmel told reporters. “She went down to the culvert went airborne up and over the guardrail and she crashed into a tree about 30 feet into the air.”
Please help #findcasey #caseyjohnston #MissingPerson #PleaseRT pic.twitter.com/lIBN2O89ZC
— Debbie E. Perfidio (@bookshopworm1) July 28, 2021
“We believe she was ejected from the car through the sunroof,” he continued, according to WPVI. “And the place where the car landed…it was 49 yards from the roadway to where her car landed. You couldn’t see it from the street…”
SEARCH FOR CASEY JOHNSTON: accident investigators confirm her car was found in wooded area near Roosevelt Blvd and Woodhaven Road. They say a private investigator flew a chopper over the area and found it yesterday. They have not found Casey @6abc pic.twitter.com/WoY3r8rLRg
— Beccah Hendrickson (@Beccah6abc) August 1, 2021
The area experienced flooding on July 12, which Chief Krimmel said could have carried Johnston’s body down to the creek, KYW reported.
“We think that culvert filled with water and probably moved her into that creek,” he confirmed.
Investigators said they do not suspect foul play.
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office concluded Johnston died from blunt impact trauma and ruled her death as an accident, WPVI reported.
