Woman's Body Found in Her Car 12 yrs After She Disappeared

[Roamer]

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090923/NEWS/909230328/Body+of+former+North+Brunswick+woman+found+in+subm erged+car+in+Florida+12+years+after+disappearance

Body of former North Brunswick woman found in submerged car in Florida 12 years after disappearance

By RICK MALWITZ • STAFF WRITER • September 23, 2009




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New Brunswick — More than 12 years after former township resident Gail Schoening was reported missing from her home in Plantation, Fla., her lifeless body has been found inside her car in the bottom of a lake about 100 yards from her condominium.






Her mother, Arlene Schoening, said Wednesday she learned of the discovery of her daughter's body on Aug. 18, when police came to her home here to tell her of the finding.

While Arlene Schoening said the discovery brought a measure of closure, loose ends remain in her daughter's story and the circumstances surrounding her death.

She said police here and in Plantation have asked her not to discuss the investigation.

Schoening said for now her daughter's death is being considered "a freak accident."

"Everything in her life looked like it was going good," she added.

Gail Schoening, who was 36 at the time of her disappearance, graduated from North Brunswick High School in 1979, and from Rutgers University in 1983 with a degree in computer science. The last day she was known to be alive, she was headed for North Carolina to be interviewed for a job that was to pay her $75,000.

According to information Arlene Schoenig gave the Home News Tribune for an obituary, Gail left the the parking lot at her condominium at about 5 a.m. on April 30, 1997. She was headed to the airport in Fort Lauderdale for her flight to North Carolina.

The last person known to have talked to her was her boyfriend, who spoke on the phone with her the night before, according to news reports in the summer of 1997.

According to Plantation police Det. Dick Barth, she did not make the flight and her car was not found at the airport.

"She just disappeared," Barth told the Orlando Sentinel at the time. "It's like she fell off the end of the Earth."

In an interview with The Home News Tribune in December 1997, Arlene Schoening was open to the possibility her daughter may have wanted to begin a new life elsewhere.

Asked if she had a message for her daughter, she said then she would tell her, "If you don't want to be found, that's fine."

She said she would want her daughter to contact the family to say she was OK.

Gail, who was divorced at the time of her death, leaves behind her parents, Arlene and Hank Schoening, who have homes here and in Riverview, Fla.

She is also survived by her brothers, Edward of North Brunswick and Russell of Valrico, Fla., and Russell's children, Brandon, 6, and Brooke, 2.
Gail was predeceased by her sister, Linda, in 1982. Linda was 19 at the time of her death, less than two years younger than Gail.

Arlene Schoening said the births of her two grandchildren "lifted us up from the depression of what happened to Linda and Gail."

A memorial service will be held during Christmas week near the Schoenings' home in Florida. The family also hopes to have a separate memorial service here.

[packy]

Sad news but at least they now know where she is instead of worrying, wondering, and hoping. My condolences to the family.

Seems like they will do a thorough investigation too.

[FoolsGold]

If the police asked someone not to discuss it, they more likely wish to bury their mistakes than conduct a thorough investigation into how someone in the pre-dawn darkness may have driven into a pond but not been found.

One can say 'technology changes' but lets face it, dragging a pond with an anchor was not all that difficult 12 years ago and magnemometers were available back then too.

[Roamer]

I have to agree with Fools Gold. If they had just cared enough to searh carefully near her home, they would have found her a long time ago.

[LiveLaughLuv]

According to information Arlene Schoenig gave the Home News Tribune for an obituary, Gail left the the parking lot at her condominium at about 5 a.m. on April 30, 1997. She was headed to the airport in Fort Lauderdale for her flight to North Carolina.

The last person known to have talked to her was her boyfriend, who spoke on the phone with her the night before, according to news reports in the summer of 1997.

Doesn't sound right. Gail had to be familiar with her own parking lot. Something is wrong here and I do hope Gails' family asks for a full investigation.

How deep was that pond that a car couldn't be seen from it's edge of the pond. If there is foul play the evidence is long gone by the elements.

It must be bittersweet for her family. They can finally put her to rest with a proper funeral/burial.. My heart goes out to this family. :give_rose:



My condolences to her family and friends.

Rest in Peace Gail :1222423:

[nanabillie]

http://www.zimbio.com/Gail+Schoening/articles/kMkh7xZ8AU1/Gail+Schoening+Body+Found+Lake+12+Years+After

Gail Schoening's Body Found In Lake, 12 Years After She Vanished


Written by Deena (http://www.zimbio.com/member/Deena) on Nov-21-09 1:41pm

Gail Schoening (http://www.zimbio.com/Gail+Schoening) was missing for 12 years before her body was found, inside her car, at the bottom of a lake just 100 yards away from her Florida home. Sources said the woman had been missing since April 1997, just before her 36th birthday. She apparently was heading to North Carolina for a job interview, but never made it to the airport, and hadn't been heard from since.

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/mp/jLFjeCW8BYYs.jpg Gail Schoening and a map of the lake where her body was found. (nbcmiami.com)
Schoening's family spent years wondering what had happened to the woman. "We're happy she was found, but sad about the circumstances," said her mother, Arlene Schoening (via Sun-Sentinal.com (http://www.zimbio.com/go/C5QscC53Hf_/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/plantation/fl-plantation-woman-found-20091120,0,7563128.story)) "We'd been going through all the possibilities."

Sources said when she first disappeared divers searched nearby lakes, since the woman's car was also missing, but nothing was found. Schoening's body was found 12 feet under the water, in a lake that had initially been searched years ago. Silt and mud likely made it easy to miss the submerged car the first time around.

Memorial services will be held for Gail Schoening the week of Christmas.


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[nanabillie]

http://www.zimbio.com/Gail+Schoening/articles/0865JfvlSU3/Gail+Schoening+Found+After+12+Years+End+Beginning


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Gail Schoening Found After 12 Years: The End or the Beginning?


Gail Schoening was just shy of 36 in 1997 when she vanished (http://www.zimbio.com/go/6GIfIaOGGmW/http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Missing-Woman-Found-12-Years-Later-70699127.html) on the way from her home in Plantation, Florida to the airport to fly to a job interview. She had struggled with depression, and her parents wondered if she might have driven off the road, on purpose or by accident. Despite repeated attempts to search nearby lakes, her body was never found. Never, that is, until August 18, when investigators using new technology located (http://www.zimbio.com/go/6CKmomzNIYp/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576151,00.html?test=latestnews) her car at the bottom of a lake about a football field away from her house. Her body was inside. It appears she drove through a narrow space between two cars and out into the lake. Her car flipped on the way into the water, trapping her inside.

We still don't really know what happened to Schoening. The original investigation didn't turn up any sign that a car had gone off the road where it did. Family and investigators are staying quiet on the question of whether this was an accident or a suicide. It's not clear if they know. Her family released a statement saying they were glad to know what happened but sad about the circumstances. A memorial service is planned for Christmas.

When a family member is missing and presumed dead, it can be very hard for the family to heal. No one wants to give up hope, but no one wants to deny reality, either. It seems like Gail Schoening's parents had made their peace with the idea that she was dead long before her body was found, to the extent that that is possible.

When a family suffers a traumatic loss, each new piece of information can compound a trauma when they come in rapid succession. In a case like this one, the discovery of the body could be a brand new trauma of its own. To the extent that Schoening's family had dealt with the idea that she was dead, they did not, until August, confront how she died. Before the discovery, they did not know they had driven around the lake where her body was numerous times, never knowing she was right there. If there are other details of the accident that the family has, those may be traumatic as well.

Everyone is there to support a family when something has just happened. I'm sure Schoening's family had friends surrounding them when she first disappeared, and hopefully they also got some early crisis intervention. The trouble with situations like this one is that those same, well-intentioned people, may expect them to feel "closure" with the finding of her remains. It's hard to believe you could be traumatized and grieving all over again after all these years, but you can, and if they are this family needs all the support they can get.

[nanabillie]

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mycentraljersey/obituary.aspx?n=gail-schoening&pid=133389435

Gail Schoening

http://mi-cache.legacy.com/legacy/images/Cobrands/APP/Photos/0101029921-01_20090924.jpgGAIL SCHOENING
FORMERLY OF NORTH BRUNSWICK
On Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, the body of Gail Schoening was found inside her car at the bottom of a lake around a hundred yards from her condo in Plantation, Fla. She was leaving the parking lot around 5 a.m. on April 30, 1997 to go to the Fort Lauderdale Airport for a job interview.


An unwitnessed accident caused her to go into a lake on the grounds of Gatehouse-on-the-Green, where she remained for over 12 years. Gail grew up in North Brunswick. She was a member of the Reformed Church of North Brunswick Sunday School and the Raritan Valley Camp Fire Girls for many years. She helped take care of her two baby brothers when she was in junior high. She was a member of Gymnastic Teams in the Y and in high school. She had many other accomplishments. Gail graduated from North Brunswick Township High School in 1979.

She attended Georgia Tech School of Engineering, where she was on the Dean's List. She graduated from Rutgers around 1983, where she was also on the Dean's List. Gail was a database analyst. She first worked for IBM. She last worked for Team Information Services in Orlando and Plantation.

more at link

[TigressPen]

It's goos this family finally has answers. Condolences to them for their loss.

[packy]

One article referred to a narrow space between two cars. Seems so odd. I wonder what the weather was like early that morning.

[Audie]

I'm confused as usual. If this story came out 2 months ago, how come it's being reported again? It was on FNC this morning. Hmm. I guess I'm missing something.

[Audie]

I have to agree with Fools Gold. If they had just cared enough to searh carefully near her home, they would have found her a long time ago.ITA, Roamer and Fools Gold.

[Audie]

A little more info from FNC.

A year after she vanished, someone called requesting a PIN number on her 401(k) account in Orlando, raising investigators' suspicions, the Sentinel said. The lead went nowhere, as did other reported sightings and tips.

Early in the investigation, Schoening's parents believed their daughter may have driven into a lake or canal because her 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse was missing along with her, according to the newspaper.

Despite hiring a pilot to fly over water in the area, the Schoenings never got their theory confirmed — until now.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576151,00.html

[Roamer]

Love your new avatar, Audie. A real hero!

Her car was found 100 yds from her house. How hard is that to find???

[Audie]

Love your new avatar, Audie. A real hero!

Her car was found 100 yds from her house. How hard is that to find???Thanks, Roamer. Yea, I just don't think they tried hard enough, imo.

[Audie]

County, Florida police seek woman missing since April

Jun. 18, 1997

A former Gaithersburg woman who still owns a condominium here has been missing since late April, prompting family and friends to fear for her safety.

Gail Ellen Schoening, 35, of Plantation, Fla., was on her way to a job interview in North Carolina when she disappeared.

Police in Plantation said that Schoening, a computer database administrator, was to take an early-morning flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Raleigh, N.C., on April 30 to interview for a job as a computer consultant. She never boarded the plane or arrived for her interview.

A New Jersey native, Schoening lived in Gaithersburg from 1991-94. Her condominium in the 800 block of Amber Tree Court in the Washingtonian Woods condominiums has been for sale "for some time," said Det. Dick Barth of the Plantation police.

Schoening was in the Gaithersburg area last December taking care of business related to her condominium, Barth said. She had moved from Orlando to Plantation in February.

In a telephone interview Thursday from her home in New Jersey, Schoening's mother, Arlene, said that her daughter had worked for IBM Corp. in Gaithersburg as a database specialist and left to marry in the spring of 1994.

Arlene Schoening said she last talked to her daughter on April 27.

"I believe that she was stressed out over not having a job. She said she was getting depressed at times from being in the apartment all the time," Arlene Schoening said.

She believes her daughter was on her way to the airport, had car problems or an accident and somehow became incapacitated.

Witnesses in Florida have seen a woman resembling her daughter about 12 times, Arlene Schoening said, adding that she also heard from a clairvoyant who had "seen" her missing daughter involved in an accident.

Barth received conflicting stories about Gail Schoening's mood before her disappearance.

"Her boyfriend said she was excited about the job, but her mom said that she was depressed about being out of work," Barth said.

Barth was uncertain how long Gail Schoening had been unemployed.

She had a history of depression, and the possibility that she may have harmed herself has not been ruled out, Barth said.

Arlene Schoening said her daughter never completely recovered from the death of her younger sister when Gail was 18 years old or from injuries suffered in a car accident that same year.

"Those two things made sure she would be on antidepressants for the rest of her life," Arlene Schoening said, adding that her daughter left without taking her medication with her.

"Her bank accounts and credit cards have not been touched," Barth said. "It's like she dropped off the face of the earth."

She is described as 5 feet tall, 125 pounds with shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes.

Her magenta 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse had Florida license tag number TZT-607.

Anyone with information about Schoening's disappearance should call Plantation police Det. Dick Barth at 954-797-2118 or Montgomery County Crime Solvers at 1-800-673-2777.

An $11,000 reward is being offered for information leading to her whereabouts.

Reprinted from Friday's Montgomery Gazette.

http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/1997/199725/gaithersburg/news/a58032-1.html

[texanne]

I did not see a map of the lake in relation to the parking lot. That would help understand what could have happened.

[5boxersmom]

I'm confused as usual. If this story came out 2 months ago, how come it's being reported again? It was on FNC this morning. Hmm. I guess I'm missing something.

I know. I just saw it over on Fox. First I had heard of it though. I missed this thread somehow when it was first started.



RIP Gail.:1222423:

[LiveLaughLuv]

I did not see a map of the lake in relation to the parking lot. That would help understand what could have happened.

I find it odd that this is where she lived, she knew the area and can't imagine no one seeing this car in the pond.

How deep is the pond?

How was a car not seen from the side of the pond when looking in? Is it murky?

This poor mother looking for her child for 12 years and there she was the entire time, right under the condo's noses...I wonder if there were any skid marks leading into that pond...something just doesn't sit right with me..JMHO

[5boxersmom]

I find it odd that this is where she lived, she knew the area and can't imagine no one seeing this car in the pond.

How deep is the pond?

How was a car not seen from the side of the pond when looking in? Is it murky?

This poor mother looking for her child for 12 years and there she was the entire time, right under the condo's noses...I wonder if there were any skid marks leading into that pond...something just doesn't sit right with me..JMHO

I wonder if the gas pedal didn't stick. I read the water was 13 feet deep.

So sad. :1222423: