Car pulled from Allegheny River belongs to Pittsburgh-area woman missing since 2020, police said
UPDATE: The remains found in the vehicle were identified as Janet Walsh. The medical examiner ruled her cause of death drowning and the manner suicide.
The previous story from July 22 is below.
OAKMONT, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Shaler woman has been missing for more than four years, and her family is one step closer to getting some answers.
A car pulled from the Allegheny River in Oakmont over the weekend belongs to Janet Walsh, who has been missing from Shaler Township since 2020, Allegheny County police said.
Human remains were found inside the vehicle, investigators added.
The car was found near the boat launch along California Avenue. The investigation continues to identify the remains found inside the vehicle.
Since January 2020, family, friends, and Shaler police have been trying to figure out where the then 70-year-old Janet Walsh went. She vanished without a trace.
Walsh, who was 70 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen on Jan. 19, 2020, along Mt. Royal Boulevard in Shaler Township. She was supposed to meet her daughter for dinner that day. But her mother was not there when her daughter arrived at Walsh's home.
Walsh's cell phone was found at her home, but her silver Chevy Trax was also missing.
Her daughter reported her missing to the Shaler Township police and the Allegheny County police eventually joined the investigation.
"It's very difficult to know that her vehicle hasn't been located," Shaler Police Chief Sean Frank said in January 2022 during the search.
"She was gone. Her cell phone was still there. The preparation for the meal was still there," Chief Frank told KDKA-TV at the time.
Shaler police soon teamed up with Allegheny County police to get answers. Her SUV never showed up on any license plate readers or car lots, and its GPS tracker was off the grid.
"That's telling us that it either was somehow disconnected or its somewhere where there's no satellite availability. It could be in a body of water," Chief Frank said.
Officials called out a dive team from Monroeville, which found Walsh's SUV with remains inside.
This came after multiple dives in the past four-and-a-half to find Walsh. Those dives were in Sharpsburg and Springdale.
As to how the SUV got to Oakmont or why, that is something police are still figuring out. This case has puzzled them, and is one they want answers.
"It's very tough. This is a case we are very passionate about," Chief Frank said during the second year of Walsh's disappearance.