PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- The skeletal remains found in a vehicle pulled from a Punta Gorda canal last week were examined and positively identified as that of 64-year-old Frances Hendrickson, who has been missing since 1993. She was last seen by a neighbor driving her 1987 light blue colored Buick station wagon.

On January 17, authorities began the operation of recovering a light blue colored station wagon from a canal behind the intersection of Whippoorwill Blvd. and Eider Street. Using a new advanced sonar technology, the vehicle was discovered in the canal, just blocks from the missing woman’s home. Detectives and forensic analysts subsequently discovered clothing items and skeletal human remains inside the vehicle.