A man from Ohio who vanished nine years ago and has been missing ever since was found dead this week in a car pulled out of a Delaware County pond.
A Franklyn County coroner confirmed that the body found inside the car fished out of a retention pond on Tuesday is that of 25-year-old Anthony "Tony" Luzio Jr., Delaware County officials told NBC4.
Luzio, of Powell, was last seen leaving a party at a friend's home on July 4, 2005. Investigators searched close to 300 bodies of water near the friend's Rutherford Road home that were considered big enough to hide a car.
After a year of searching, Illinois-based company Team Watters Sonar Search and Recovery located the submerged silver Honda Civic using a boat outfitted with advance sonar equipment. A driver's license belonging to the victim was found inside the car.
Luzio's family, who never gave up hope after nearly a decade, said they can now begin to heal.
"After 9 1/2 years to prepare for this, we thought we would be ready for the inevitable. But it hurts as bad as if it happened yesterday," Anthony Luzio Sr. said according to the Associated Press.
Investigators have not indicated if they know for sure how Luzio's car ended up at the bottom of the lake or if they suspect foul play. His car was taken to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office to be examined, the AP reported.
"We believe he drove off the roadway for whatever reason," sheriff's office Captain Kevin Savage told The Columbus Dispatch. "When you never have a person or a vehicle show up, in our mind, that vehicle has to be hidden somewhere."
