Body of Missing Garth Road Woman Found in Bronx River

After an extensive four-day search, the body of Catherine "Kay" Cotter, an 88 year-old Garth Road woman, was found in the Bronx River on Friday May 31. Cotter, who was the mother of John Cotter of Greenacres and aunt of Nancy Brady of Crane Berkeley, suffered from dementia and wandered out of the Garth Road apartment where she lived with her son early Tuesday morning. Though witnesses reported seeing her walking on the shoulder of the parkway that morning, an extensive search of the area yielded no results until Friday afternoon. The search team used all-terrain vehicles, K-9 units and a helicopter with friends and family scouring the area on foot.

According to the family, late Friday afternoon, the Eastchester Police found Mrs. Cotter's body in the Bronx River, "near where she was last seen opposite the Leewood tunnel on the parkway. It appears that she may have fallen or was hit by a car and was thrown to the river below the roadway. In all likelihood this occurred in the first hours after she left her home on Tuesday. As hard as this is to hear, there is some consolation in knowing that she probably has not been suffering for the last few days. Her intention was to return "Home" and it seems she has done that."

Police report that a volunteer found Cotter's signature hat off the Bronx River Parkway by Leewood Drive around 4 pm. The volunteer alerted police and an Eastchester officer spotted the body in the water. Though the area had been searched earlier, dry weather over the past few days dropped the water level in the river and made it easier to find the missing woman.

In an email the family thanked the community for their "help, kind thoughts, words and prayers."