Cold case 44 years old blown open after chilling discovery

It was an ordinary drive home from Charles and Catherine Romer’s winter holiday home in Florida in the spring of 1980. Until a pit stop resulted in them never being seen again.

It was an ordinary drive home from Charles and Catherine Romer’s holiday home in Florida in the spring of 1980.

A drive like they’d done many times before, except on this occasion – the retired oil company executive and his wife – a beloved socialite – made the decision to stop by the Holiday Inn in Georgia, on the way back to their permanent abode in the posh Westchester County suburb of Scarsdale, New York.

The pair, both in their 70s, registered at the hotel and unpacked some of their belongings into a room before heading out – never to be seen again.

Charles and Catherine Romer disappeared in April 1980. Picture: Supplied

It’s a ‘dark and murky’ mystery that has gripped the Romer family for 44 years, and baffled investigators around what possibly could have happened to Charles and Catherine.

But after decades of dead ends, this week – the skeletal remains of two bodies – and a trove of jewellery, including a Rolex, were pulled from a submerged car believed to belong to the couple.

Speculation around what happened to the cashed up pair has long been a mystery, with family and friends continuing what has been a decades long search for answers.

Since the beginning, investigators have tipped that the couple may have been robbed and killed, given Ms. Romer was wearing some of her valuable jewels at the time of her disappearance.

After decades of dead ends, this week the skeletal remains of two bodies – and a trove of jewellery, including a Rolex, were pulled from a submerged car believed to belong to the couple.

The bombshell findings this week of the vehicle, believed to be the couple’s late-model black Lincoln Continental – may finally break the case family have been waiting on for decades.

The discovery was made by local officials in Brunswick, Georgia, a coastal town about 120km south of Savannah and nearby to where the Inn sits, with volunteer divers and first making the discovery before the wreckage was able to be pulled from the murky pond.

But along with the valuable items, police made a grizzly discovery within the decomposing, now unrecognisable vehicle.

Human remains in the car “conclusively show the bodies of two people were in the vehicle,” Georgia police spokesperson Lawton Dodd said in an email to the New York Post, adding that investigations into the identification of the occupants continue and may prove a challenge given the car is “a twisted hunk of mess”.

A car similar to Charles and Catherine Romer’s vehicle was found in a pond near the hotel where they stayed.

The discovery was made by using sonar equipment to detect a vehicle, with divers exploring every body of water within several kilometres of the Inn where the couple had disappeared 44 years ago.

Speaking of the vehicle and uncovering of human bones, Mr Dodd told the New York Times the discovery “came out of the blue”.

This image shows what the couple’s car looked like. Picture: Sunshine State Sonar

“It’s a cold case that is not a cold case any longer … the investigation’s reopened,” he said, adding that while they cannot quite confirm if it’s the Romer’s just yet, there’s a high chance the case will be solved given “there’s plenty to suggest it is [the Romer’s]”.

“We’ve drained the pond,” he said. “It’s unclear if we can even remove the vehicle from the pond without damaging it beyond being of any use.”

Investigators have not yet identified the remains. Picture: Sunshine State Sonar

Investigators are now seeking a VIN number from the car to see if it matches up with the Romers’ 1979 Lincoln Continental that the pair were in at the time of their disappearance, according to the New York Post.

Living family members believe the car and bodies within belong to Mr and Mrs Romer, who have for decades feared their disappearances and subsequent deaths were the result of a robbery. However now, the likelihood is that the deaths of the duo – if confirmed – was a tragic accident.

Personal belongings recovered. Picture: Sunshine State Sonar

“We never knew what happened to any of them. We just all figured somebody had, with all the money they had, somebody followed them and robbed them,” Andy Mavromat, a former clerk at the hotel, told CBS News.

It’s not the first time the pond has been searched, however authorities claim that with more advanced technology – a vehicle beneath the water might’ve been missed in 1980.

“As dark and murky as that water, and as muddy as they reported it was, it’s likely that it just got missed,” Shelly McKinney, who works with the Sunshine State Sonar Team, which tries to crack cold cases by using sonar, told CBS News.

The granddaughter of Catherine Romer, Christine Seaman Heller, said the family were grateful “for the progress made and the dedication of those working on this case”.

“It was a horrific time for all of us,” she added.

“And especially watching my father suffer … That was his mother.”

– with the New York Post