New Details In Missing Bucks Co. Woman's Death

LOWER SOUTHAMPTON, PA — An investigator discovered a missing Bucks County woman's car yards off the road in Philadelphia Saturday, police said, leading authorities to her body in nearby Byberry Creek.

A private investigator hired by 26-year-old Casey Johnston's family found her car about 49 yards off of Woodhaven Road on Saturday. The car was spotted from a helicopter. Authorities said it would have been impossible to see from the road, and may not have been visible from the air until recent storms downed trees and cleared some debris.

Detective Stephen Brookes of the Lower Southampton Police Department told Patch that police searched the area for Johnston's body until dark on Saturday. Then on Sunday, teams including the Philadelphia Marine Unit and volunteers from the Lower Southampton Fire Department, Feasterville Fire Company, Trevose Fire Department, and Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Teams resumed the search.

The Philadelphia Marine Unit found a body consistent with Johnston's description in the creek Sunday, about a half mile downstream from where the vehicle was found. On Monday afternoon, sources reported that the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office had confirmed Johnston's body to be the one recovered.

Lower Southampton Police Chief Ted Krimmel speculated in a news conference that she may have had trouble taking a curve in the road and been ejected from the car.

"Went airborne, up and over the guardrail," he said. "She crashed into a tree, probably about 30 feet in the air. We believe she was ejected from the car through the sunroof."

Johnston's family reported her missing after she failed to return home from a friend's house on July 10, and had recently hired the private investigator to aid in the search. She was last seen in her car on 12th and Vine Streets in Philadelphia. Police had encouraged searchers to look for the Ford Focus with Temple University stickers.

The Neshaminy Kids Club Before & After School Programs wrote a moving tribute to Johnston, who'd worked with them since 2016.

"Miss Casey had been a member of our NKC family for many years and will be greatly missed," they wrote. "Casey was a beautiful person, whose presence brightened up the room. Her kindness and spirit was infectious."

Her boyfriend, Matt Bastik, also wrote a tribute.

"Today has been a terrible nightmare," he wrote, going on to say, "I'm lucky that I ever met her, and I'm blessed to have been able to spend the last six years with her, by her side."