The body of a man found in a car, submerged in an Ohio lake, has been identified as Anthony “Tony” Luzio Jr. The man had been missing since July 4th, 2005.
Retired Columbus Police Sergeant, Anthony Luzio Sr. can finally get some closure after learning that the remains of a man found in a car in a lake in Delaware County is of his son, Anthony “Tony” Luzio Jr. who vanished 9 years ago.
The last time Luzio Jr. was seen alive, it was after a family gathering for July 4th in Ohio. According to the 25-year-old’s parents, Carla and Anthony Sr., he got into his 2004 Honda Civic and drove off to go see one of his friends, and vanished from the face of the earth.
A group of investigators were determined to find the police officer’s son, even if it meant searching every pond in Delaware County.
The Powell Police Department teamed up with Dennis and Tammy Watters, who are owners of Team Watters Sonar Search and Recovery in Moro, Ill, hoping to find the missing man.
This year, the couple used their sophisticated equipments and geographic-information-systems technology from the county auditor’s office to search 8 ponds/lakes in Delaware County, and found nothing.
According to the Watters, they had decided to target 300 bodies of water within a 3-mile radius of the Rutherford Road home, where Luzio’s pal lived at the time of his disappearance.
The Watters had plans to search over 1,000 bodies of water in Ohio in order to get some answers for the Luzios. On October 21st, the team moved to a lake near Old State Road, where they found Luzio’s car with his decomposed body inside.
The clothes found inside matched what Luzio was last seen wearing and his driver’s license was also located inside the car.
Sheriff Russell Martin who was part of the team searching for Luzio, said he always believed that they would be able to close Delaware County’s only open missing-persons case.
Martin explained:
“This has never been a cold case.Maybe a lukewarm case, but never cold.”
The Luzio family always had hope by some miracle that their son would be found alive. After Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina “Gina” DeJesus were rescued alive in Cleveland, Ohio, the Luzios were certain that one day, they would receive that kind of good news about Tony. The grieving father told the media:
“Maybe someday we could have the same happy ending. You think, maybe there’s a chance, a little bit of a chance.”
It is believed that the man accidentally drove off the road and landed in the lake where he drowned.
