Body of Philadelphia woman who was ejected through car sunroof found three weeks later police say

Police in Philadelphia have said they may have recovered the body of a woman who had been missing for over three weeks in what appears to have been a fatal crash.

Officials told CBS3 that police recovered on Sunday what they believe to be the body of 26-year-old Casey Johnston who went missing on 10 July.

The discovery comes a day after police confirmed to the broadcaster that helicopter search and rescue team found Ms Johnston’s car in a wooded area.

“During the search this afternoon, members of the Philadelphia Police Marine Unit located the body on the 1200 block of Townsend Road in Philadelphia,” Chief of Police Ted Krimmel told the outlet.

The identity of the body has not been officially confirmed but Mr Krimmel said during a press conference that he is “pretty comfortable that it is her” as it matches her description,ABC6 reports.

The broadcaster reported that a private investigator, Kevin Ryan, had been hired by the family and had helped to locate Ms Johnston’s Ford Focus.

Mr Krimmel said the body was about half a mile from the car’s location and that an initial investigation suggests that Ms Johnston had crashed the car.

Authorities say they believe that the woman was ejected from the vehicle during the collision and subsequently smashed through the sunroof of her car.

“It appears she didn’t negotiate the curve properly,” Mr Krimmel told CBS3. “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.”

“When the call came out that there was a body found by the marine unit, we just shut all communication down,” the chief said.

The 26-year-old from Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, was last seen in Philadelphia’s Chinatown section. Her mobile phone was recovered from that location.

Her disappearance prompted an outpouring of support from the local community, who are said to have created posters, billboards and thousands of posts on social media to aid in the search.

The woman’s family has been notified and thanked members of the community for their help during the search. Police are said to not be treating the death as suspicious.

Police told local outlets that recent flooding in the area may have “moved her into” the creek where her body was later discovered.

The Philadelphia medical examiner will conduct a medical examination to determine the cause of death of the young woman.

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