82-year-old went missing during Hurricane Ian. Her body was just found, Florida cops say
Human remains have been identified in Fort Myers Beach, Florida after being found by a debris cleaning crew, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
The remains were identified as Ilonka Knes, an 82-year-old woman who lived on Fort Myers Beach, one of the areas hit hardest in Florida by Hurricane Ian in September.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a news conference on Jan. 12 that a well-being check for Knes was called on Oct. 7, and deputies attempted to locate her. They were unsuccessful, and Knes was entered into the missing persons database on Oct. 15.
The remains were found on Jan. 10, 1.6 miles from Knes’ home when a debris removal company was working to clean a canal. The workers discovered the body “deep within the mangroves,” and immediately contacted local officials.
“These areas are impassable by boat and they are not visible by the air,” Marceno said.
Marceno said the cause of death was accidental drowning from Hurricane Ian and the medical examiner used dental records to confirm a positive identification.
Knes was found more than 100 days after Hurricane Ian destroyed much of the beach community where Marceno said “most homes in that area were completely destroyed.”
Area proved difficult to search after the hurricane
When asked why the remains took so long to locate, Marceno said the large size of the searchable area, 1,260 square miles of land and water, and the movement of water over time makes it difficult to track the movement of people or things.
“We utilized all of our assets and the latest and greatest technology to search inch by inch,” Marceno said. “The southwest Florida terrain can limit even the most advanced technology with tree canopies and waterways.”
He also said that many well-being checks were requested from family members who lived out-of-state or out of the country, and hours of investigation had to go into confirming whether each person was actually in their home when the storm hit or if they had evacuated.
Lee County sits on the Florida Gulf Coast and was in the direct path of Hurricane Ian when the storm made landfall the week of September 23rd. The county includes Fort Myers Beach, a community of over 5,000 people, many of whom are retirees.
The identification of Knes brings the death toll from Hurricane Ian to 74 in Lee County, Marceno said at the news conference.
Knes was the second to last missing person that had yet to be found in the county following Hurricane Ian. A 72-year-old man, also from Fort Myers Beach, is now the only resident missing.
“One person is too many,” Marceno said.
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