Body of Maple Shade NJ Woman in Car in Mantua Creek

PRESS RELEASE


August 15, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bernie Weisenfeld-PIO
Gloucester County rosecutor's Office


The body of a woman identified as a 55-year-old Maple Shade NJ resident was found Monday afternoon in a partially submerged car that was discovered by a boater in the Mantua Creek off Berkley Road in East Greenwich Township NJ.

The woman, Connie Oman Burns, of 123 Frederick Avenue, was reported missing by her two sisters shortly after 12 noon on Monday. They had last spoken to her by telephone Sunday afternoon when she told them she was in Cherry Hill and planned to attend a family party in Maple Shade that afternoon. At 4:13 p.m. Sunday, South Harrison Towhship police received a report of a vehicle driving erratically on Monroeville Road. From information reported to police, it was determined the car was registered to Ms. Burns. Police were unable to locate the vehicle.

An East Greenwich Township resident who was fishing from a boat in the Mantua Creek about a quarter-mile from a Berkley Road boat ramp saw a vehicle partially above the surface of the water at 1:10 p.m. Monday. East Greenwich police responded to his 911 call and at the same time learned of the missing persons report regarding Ms. Burns. Assisted by equipment from the New Jersey State Police and the Malaga NJ Fire Company, the 2009 Ford Focus was raised to the surface and brought to the Berkley Road boat ramp. A woman's body was in the driver's seat of the car in a seat belt. Through body markings, she was identified as Ms. Burns.

An autopsy by the Gloucester County Medical Examine's Office is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Investigators also plan to search the shoreline of the creek on Tuesday in an effort to determine where the car entered the water.