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Human remains found in SUV pulled from Ohio River identified as woman missing since 2002

By WHIO Staff

Missing family: Stephanie “Van” Nguyen, 26, of Delhi Township, Ohio, and her two children, Kristina and John Nguyen, vanished in April 2002 after Nguyen left notes telling family she was driving into the Ohio River with the children. At bottom right, authorities search the area of the river in Aurora, Ind., where Nguyen’s green Nissan Pathfinder, pictured at top right, was found Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, with human remains inside. (Delhi Township Police Department, Indiana State Police)

By WHIO Staff

AURORA, Ind. — A bone found in an SUV pulled from the Ohio River last year has been identified as an Ohio woman who has been missing for 20 years.

The bone was positively identified as belonging to Stephanie Van Nguyen by the Dearborn County Coroner’s Office. Nguyen and her two children, Kristina “Hang” Nguyen, 4, and John “Tai” Nguyen, 3, went missing in April 2002.

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According to our news partners at WCPO, Nguyen left a goodbye letter at the home of her parents and what police called a possible suicide note, saying she was going to drive her car into the Ohio River with her and her children in it in April of 2002.

In October 2021, nearly 20 years later, a green Nissan Pathfinder was discovered by divers in the Ohio River. Indiana State Police said “registration plate on the vehicle confirmed the vehicle belonged to Nguyen.”

Investigators found a bone, later identified as part of a human fibula, in the SUV.

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WCPO reported that there was no “definite evidence of either children discovered in the SUV.”

The Dearborn County Coroner’s Office said in a release that “since no other remains were located within the vehicle, the children will still be listed as an open missing persons case unless remains are located or if the family files through the court to have them declared legally deceased.”

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