A vehicle found Sunday night in the Allegheny River in Oakmont housed human remains, according to local authorities.
The vehicle belonged to Janet Walsh, a Shaler woman who was reported missing in January 2020 by her daughter, who was supposed to have dinner at her mother’s house that evening.
Jim Madalinsky, public information officer for Allegheny County Police, said the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the remains and determine the cause and manner of death.
The Oakmont Fire Department was dispatched to the river around 5:20 p.m. Sunday to locate an overturned vehicle found by a fisherman.
During the investigation, a second vehicle was located and searched by divers, according to Oakmont fire Chief Joe Flanick.
Fire crews requested a dive team to determine if human remains were inside either of the vehicles, according to the Allegheny County Police Department.
Crews from Monroeville Fire Department’s dive teams and Blawnox Fire Rescue worked in the water from the boat launch near the Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church along Washington Avenue.
The Medical Examiner’s Office and county detectives arrived at the scene around 9 p.m. Sunday.
Divers said the vehicles were likely in the river for years based on the mud, silt and algae sitting on it.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call 1-833-255-8477 (ALL-TIPS) to reach the county police hotline. Callers can remain anonymous.
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter covering the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She also does reporting for the Penn-Trafford Star. A Penn Township native, she joined the Trib in 2023 after working as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the company for two summers. She can be reached at qreese@triblive.com.