Creepy new photos show the personal belongings of a wealthy couple who disappeared almost 45 years ago after their car and bodies were found submerged in a pond.
A purse, jewelry, toothpaste with Colgate still visible on the tube, and high-heeled shoes were among the belongings frozen over time when the pond was dredged.
Covered in mud, mud and rust, they were painstakingly retrieved and placed on sheets next to the pond on Interstate 95 near Brunswick, Georgia.
The bodies of retired Sinclair Oil executive Charles Romer, 73, and his wife Catherine, 75, who suddenly disappeared on April 8, 1980, are also believed to be in the pond.
They were found in the rotted remains of the black custom 1979 Lincoln Continental model they were driving, which also disappeared on the same day.
Charles and Catherine were longtime friends who married in 1974. They were traveling from Miami, Florida to Scarsdale, New York before disappearing.
Catherine and Charles Romer went missing in 1980 while on their way home from Miami, Georgia
They were found in the black custom 1979 Lincoln Continental model they were driving, which also disappeared on the same day
A bag, jewelry and toothpaste with Colgate still visible on the tube were among the belongings frozen in time when the pond was dredged.
A pair of high-heeled shoes covered in mud and mud were also recovered after 44 years
A car submerged in a Georgia pond with a human bone inside was linked to the Romer’s cold case
They stopped along their route on I-95 on April 8 at a Holiday Inn in Brunswick, Georgia – one of the last places the couple was seen.
They checked in at 3:51 p.m. and took their belongings to room 149, and around 5 p.m. a Georgia Highway Patrol officer spotted the car south of Brunswick, near some restaurants.
Hotel staff raised the alarm on April 11 and reported that the Romers were missing when they noticed that their bed had not been slept in.
Employees found unpacked bags, tax returns and a bottle of whiskey in the vacant room, but no sign of them or their car.
According to the Associated Press, Catherine was wearing $81,000 worth of jewelry when she disappeared with her husband.
Catherine was reportedly wearing $81,000 worth of jewelry when the couple disappeared
They were found in the black custom 1979 Lincoln Continental model they were driving, which also disappeared on the same day
Top view of the luxury car found hidden in the mud for decades
Sunshine State Sonar made the discovery around 10 a.m. after a tip about a submerged vehicle, later identified as a 1970s Ford sedan
The belingings were painstakingly collected and placed on sheets next to the pond on Interstate 95 near Brunswick, Georgia.
Parts of the car, including this wheel and axle, were taken out separately, as they had fallen from the rest of the vehicle over time
Divers from Sunshine State Sonar retrieve pieces of the car from the depths of the pond
But on Friday, the decades-old dead end case resurfaced when a search team from Florida Sound Navigation and Ranging (Sonar) found a car believed to be theirs submerged in a pond on Interstate 95 in Brunswick.
“Ultimately, a match must be determined by the VIN number and it has not yet been possible to determine that from the vehicle found in the pond,” Glynn County police said.
Sunshine State Sonar made the discovery around 10 a.m. after a tip about a submerged vehicle, later identified as a 1970s Ford sedan.
“Further investigation led to the discovery of an additional vehicle, which was ultimately determined to be that of Charles and Catherine Romer,” the report said.
“We immediately notified Glynn County Police detectives of the discovery, including the 1970s Ford sedan.”
Upon further investigation, one human bone was found in the car, but DNA results to confirm their belonging to the missing couple are still pending.
The disappearances of Charles and Catherine have baffled family members and investigators for decades
The couple drove a black, customized 1979 Lincoln Continental, which resembled the car unearthed on Friday
The couple married in 1974 – just six years before they were last seen – after being long-time friends
“At this time there is no conclusion regarding the identity of the remains found,” police said.
“The pond is being drained and special equipment is being used to allow for a thorough investigation by the GCPD and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”
While no solid conclusion has been reached about the circumstances surrounding the vanished wealthy couple, researchers, Brunswick locals and family members have speculated over the years.
“We all felt with our experience that these people had been kidnapped and murdered because of her jewelry, and that the vehicle and the bodies were hidden in the water,” rescue diver George Baker, who searched for the car for years, told the AP. 1998.
Former Holiday Inn employee Andy Mavromat told the story Action News Jax: ‘He was in the oil industry; he was worth a lot of money. When I worked at Holiday Inn, this was the biggest thing, and we never knew this was happening to them.
“We thought with all the money they had, someone followed them and robbed them.”
Given the discovery, Mavromat said the couple may have lost control of their car and fell into the lake.
Charles was officially declared dead in 1985, leaving his two sons a $1.2 million estate.
Catherine’s nine grandchildren took the discovery to heart and reflected on their late grandmother.
People have been thinking about what might have happened for years. The discovery of the car has shed new light on the circumstances for family members
The Florida Sonar team was searching the pond for another car when they discovered the Lincoln
“All the research and psychics and stuff, the police, they’ve been working so hard, and Blackwater divers have been searching for years. And they thought it was foul play,” said Christine Seaman Heller, Catherine’s granddaughter ABC7.
Heller said she took some solace in the discovery and hopes for some final closure.
‘I was talking to a friend about it yesterday because it’s always been such a mystery. So it would be great to find out, just have some peace and quiet. You know, maybe it wasn’t a terrible ending, maybe it was just an accident,” she said.