Margaret Becker’s vehicle found in Kissimmee River, no sign of missing woman
Courtesy: Highlands County Sheriff's Office
AVON PARK, Fla. - Members of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) found Margaret Becker’s vehicle in the Kissimmee River Saturday afternoon, but she is still missing.
Becker has been missing since Jan. 17 when she was last seen leaving the Publix store in the Southgate Shopping Center in Sebring. Those who saw her said she appeared to be confused.
On Jan. 31, detectives learned that a vehicle matching the one Becker was driving the night she disappeared went through the front gate at the Avon Park Bombing Range around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17.
The person working the main entrance to the range said Becker was the only person in the vehicle and she did not stop to check in at the guardhouse.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office conducted a 106,000-acre search Saturday morning that focused on a boat ramp leading into the Kissimmee River.
While waiting for divers, several search teams drove the roads and trails of the range looking for her vehicle.
Divers found the vehicle shortly before 2 p.m. about 30 yards off the boat ramp in an area that’s about 15-30 feet deep.
The vehicle was still in drive and three of the windows were rolled down, which investigators said indicates that Becker was in the vehicle when it entered the water. However, she was not inside when it was pulled up to the bank.
HCSO said that they conducted a thorough search of the area immediately downstream of the boat ramp, but only some items that had been inside the vehicle were located.
At approximately 1:50 p.m., divers confirmed a vehicle was in the river, about 30 yards off the boat ramp, in an area that ranged from 15 to 30 feet deep. The vehicle was still in drive and three of the windows were rolled down, which indicates Mrs. Becker was in the vehicle when it entered the water, but she was not inside when it was pulled to the bank. A thorough search of the area immediately downstream of the boat ramp was completed, but only some items that had been inside the vehicle were located.
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