CBI cancels missing alert after Evans woman’s car found submerged with body inside in Weld County canal

An Evans woman who was last seen Sunday has been found, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, but it did not specify whether she was safe.

Kaylee Russell, 20, has been missing since 6 p.m. Sunday, when she was last seen at the Loveland/Johnstown Park-N-Ride.

Around 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan that Russell was driving when she disappeared was found off the east side of Colorado Boulevard near Weld County Road 80, submerged in water in a canal, according to a Colorado State Patrol news release.

Divers saw a body in the car, but officials have not yet identified the person as Russell. CSP officials said the Weld County Coroner’s Office would identify the body and determine the cause and manner of death.

But family friend Josh Schweitzer, who was at the scene of the crash, said Thursday that Russell’s loved ones believe she is the person who was in the car.

Russell dropped her father off at the park-n-ride on Sunday evening after he rode along on her route as a package delivery driver. She headed to a friend’s house in Pierce around 6 p.m. and her father called her around 6:10 p.m. to make sure a headlight he had replaced that day was working and spoke with her briefly, the last time anyone spoke to Russell.

Family, friends and others had been searching for Russell’s car along Weld County Road 13, the route her father recommended to get her to the friend’s house, until her car was found Thursday. The search included numerous parking lots throughout the region, including Centerra, Medical Center of the Rockies and various hotels.

Colorado State Patrol’s Vehicular Crimes unit is investigating the crash, troopers say. CBI agents and Evans Police officers, who were leading the investigation into Russell’s disappearance, responded to the scene of the crash Thursday to assist Larimer County Sheriff’s deputies, who found the submerged vehicle.