Tennessee family missing nearly 2 weeks are found dead in vehicle
Authorities identified the bodies found Wednesday as Jeremy Cook, 39, his 28-year-old fiancé, Johanna Manor, and her 8-year-old daughter Adalicia Manor. (Family/GoFundMe)
A Tennessee family missing for nearly two weeks was found dead Wednesday in a crashed vehicle that had fallen into a ravine, authorities said.
Jeremy Cook, 39, his 28-year-old fiance, Johanna Manor, and her 8-year-old daughter Adalicia Manor were last seen on Jan. 16, FOX17 Nashville reported. Authorities said their bodies were found inside their truck near I-840 on the 3700 block of Boston Theta Road in Williamson County.
Investigators believe the truck likely hydroplaned or hit a patch of ice on a bridge before striking the median and falling about 100 feet into a wooded ravine, Lt. Mike Doddo with the Hickman County Sheriff’s Office told WKRN-TV.
Doddo said the family appeared to have died upon impact and were not found sooner because the placement of the vehicle made it difficult to spot from the bridge.
"The family is devastated," the lieutenant said. "You’ve lost almost an entire generation in one crash, that’s tragic in itself. This is just a tragic weather-related accident."
Doddo told the station that a witness had reported the accident to authorities, but had left the scene before troopers could arrive.
"This family would have been found a lot sooner had that person stuck around," he said.
Authorities said the family’s babysitter had called for a welfare check on their home on Jan. 21, but no one was home and nothing suspicious was found.
On Jan. 23, Adalicia’s biological father filed missing persons report and local authorities immediately began searching for the family.
Investigators found information for a cellphone belonging to the family and pinged it to find the location of the crash vehicle, according to local reports.