45°
The body was found Saturday “in heavy brush” near where Stephanie Bronaugh of Lafayette went missing on July 1, Detective Sgt. Joseph Walker said.
"Clothing matching the description of the missing adult female were discovered with the remains," Walker said in a release Monday.
"At this time formal identification is pending from the medical examiner’s office," he said. "There is no foul play suspected."
Police who responded to the minor July 1 crash off Oak Ridge Road near the Jefferson border found the car, one of Bronaugh's sneakers and her cellphone but not her.
An "exhaustive" but unsuccessful search involved K9 units a State Police helicopter and West Milford's Search & Rescue and Special Operations teams, they said.
A little over a year ago, police in Sparta said they found Bronaugh slumped over the wheel of her 2016 BMW, with 10 wax folds of heroin in the driver's side compartment, as well as a small amount of pot and several prescription pills in the car.
They processed and released her pending court action on drug charges.
Lafayette is 25 miles due east of where the crash occurred and the body was found.
Several agencies assisted West Milford police with the search that turned up the body, Walker said: the Passaic County Sherriff’s Department, NJ State Police, Passaic County Prosecutor's Office, Maywood Police K-9 Remi, West Milford Search and Rescue, Passaic County Search and Rescue and State Park Police Sgt. Barrett Beard and his cadaver K-9, Copper.
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Passaic and receive free news updates.
