Investigators in Chester, Pennsylvania, are releasing new information about the search that led to the recovery of what is believed to be the body of a missing woman from the Delaware River.
According to police, a gray Nissan Altima matching the vehicle driven by 33-year-old Kortney Staples was located Sunday evening underwater near the end of Norris Street.
Officers said a body recovered from inside the car has tattoos consistent with those belonging to Staples.
Members of the dive team who located the vehicle also retrieved a license plate that matches the registration on Staples’ car.
The Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office has not yet confirmed a formal identification or ruled on the cause of death.
The vehicle was discovered while Chester police were still looking into Staples’ disappearance.
Police said Staples was last spotted on July 11. A photo captured at 4:23 a.m. on July 12 showed her car on Highland Avenue South.
Investigators with the Chester City Police Department disclosed that Staples may have been dealing with grief over her father’s recent death before she went missing.
“It was some concern that she had recently lost her father, so she was feeling depressed over that,” said Capt. El’Lan Morgan of the Chester City Police Department.
Police noted that the section of water where the car was found had once been blocked off by fencing, but the barrier had been broken. Investigators also observed damage to the front end of Staples’ vehicle.
“It’s difficult, and it’s really impacted the community and people who loved the Staples family and supported the Staples family,” Chester Police Commissioner Katrina Blackwell said.
Authorities credited a tip from a family friend with leading them to Chaos Divers, a Southern Illinois-based dive team that searches for missing persons nationwide at no cost.
“She contacted us and said, ‘One of my friends. Her sister is missing. Can you guys help?'” said Lindsay Bussick, manager of Chaos Divers.
Bussick said the team pinpointed a section of the river to search using Staples’ home address and the spot shown in the final photograph of her car. Divers located the vehicle in under 10 minutes.
Bussick said the find has brought some sense of closure to Staples’ relatives.
“It is incredibly heartbreaking, but it is something we are incredibly grateful that we’re able to do,” Bussick said. “I spoke with one of her sisters this morning, and she said, ‘I slept last night.'”
Police are still asking anyone with information about Staples’ movements or contacts before her disappearance to come forward.
“Even if you saw her or even if you spoke to her for a second, call the police,” Blackwell said. “Everything helps us tie into her last moments, what happened.”
Detectives said they do not suspect foul play, though they continue to collect information as the case remains active.