Car Crash Appears To Be Cause Of Death In Missing Persons Case

We're always expecting the worst, aren't we?

For instance, this note was found on the news wire this morning:

Authorities are investigating after a body was found in Book Cliffs north of Moab.  Officials say the Utah Department of Natural Resources was doing work in a helicopter when it found a car in Grand County yesterday morning.  When police arrived, they discovered a body inside of the car that's registered to a person missing since last November.  The Grand County Sheriff's Office doesn't suspect any foul play in the case.  Authorities still need to identify the body to see if there is a connection.

Before the second-to-last line, many of us had already concluded it was a murder case.

After that same line ("The Grand County Sheriff's Office doesn't suspect any foul play in the case"), many of us went straight to suicide. Sadly, we've seen these stories too often in our modern society.

But I did a little digging and found this press release:

The key part is about 60 percent down, the third paragraph. "All aspects of the located vehicle are consistent with a motor vehicle accident having no suspicious circumstances at this time."

It's not a happy ending. Someone died (they still haven't released a name), but it turns out it was nothing sinister. Just a terrible accident.

NBC11 News is reporting that the vehicle is registered to missing Grand Junction woman Melissa Gonzalez, although positive identification has not been made.

It's bad news for sure. But hopefully Melissa's family will have a little comfort knowing it was an accident and not something worse.