COLUMBUS, Ohio – An autopsy will be performed on a body found in a car submerged in a Delaware County pond, which authorities think might be that of a Columbus man who has been missing for more than nine years.
Tony Luzio’s driver’s license was found in the car and the clothing matches the description of what he was wearing when last seen on July 4, 2005, Delaware County Sheriff Russell Martin said.
The Franklin County Coroner’s Office will conduct the autopsy, Martin said.
The 2004 Honda Civic was found at about 4:30 p.m. in a pond on the northwest corner of East Orange and Old State Roads in Lewis Center, the result of an investigation into Delaware County’s only missing person case, which was revived last spring with the search of more than 300 bodies of water within a three-mile radius of the home where Luzio was last seen, Martin said.
“I’m very proud of the men and women who never gave up on this case, and who have shown nothing but respect and sensitivity for the Luzio family,” said Sheriff Martin. “
Team Watters Sonar Search and Recovery, a non-profit group from Illinois, the Delaware County Auditor’s Geographic Information Systems, the state Department of Natural Resources and local, state and federal law enforcement agencies collaborated on the investigation, Martin said.