Body found in missing mom’s SUV
Vehicle in pond belonged to Belle Isle woman
An SUV possibly belonging to a Belle Islewoman who has been missing for threeweeks has been found in a retention pond with a person dead inside, the Orlando Police Department said Saturday evening.
The champagne-colored Chevy Tahoe believed to belong to Stephanie Hollingsworth was found underwater in the city’s southeast end during a drone search conducted by searchers working with the family, the department said in a statement.
Orlando detectives said late Saturday that they confirmed the license plate on the SUVmatches the plate on Hollingsworth’s vehicle. Police have not confirmed that the person found in the vehicle isHollingsworth.
“The Belle Isle Police Department is aware of the discovery and has been in contact with the Hollingsworth family,” the statement added.
Police cordoned off Dowden Road at Story Time Drive in both directions, with few cars allowed past the tape. More than a dozen vehicles lined up on the side of the road as police worked to get the SUV out of the water just yards away.
Hollingsworth, 50, went missing on Sept. 25 and was last seen that afternoon on surveillance footage at a Walmart SupercenteronSouth GoldenrodRoad.
Her family has spent weeks searching for the mother of three after she inexplicably left in the Tahoe, leaving behind her phone and other belongings. Daily search parties were dispatched fromtheWalmart where shewas last seen, with maps crossing off areas already covered by relatives and volunteers.
Belle Isle Police Department Chief Laura Houston issued a statement on Thursday officially ruling out her husband, Scott Hollingsworth, and other relatives as being persons of interest in the investigation.
Scott Hollingsworth did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment on Saturday.
In a recent interview, Hollingsworth said he initially assumed his wife was running errands on the day she disappeared. He said, however, that he got worried when she didn’t return that night.
“She kind of worked at 100 miles an hour,” he said recently. “Run and go, that’s how she was. She was very high-energy.”
Hollingsworth said he eventually found a backpack full of belongings that she had packed, leading him to believe she had checked herself into a mental health facility.
“She was a fighter. She was prepared to heal herself,” he said in a previous interview.
Stephanie Hollingsworth had struggled with alcoholism but the family said she recently expressed plans to seek help.