Photo: Martin County Sheriff's Office
A handyman from Florida has been charged with murder after the body of a missing woman was discovered inside of her septic tank. Authorities said that Cynthia Cole, 57, was last seen on February 24 at a Jammin' Jensen event in downtown Jensen Beach.
Detectives were searching Cole's home last week when they noticed that the cover on her septic tank "didn't look right." An excavation crew was called in and spent several hours digging up the septic tank, which was buried about four feet underground.
Once they uncovered the tank, they discovered the remains of a woman "submerged" in the sludge in the tank. While the woman has not been identified, officials said they have "every reason to believe it is that of Ms. Cole."
"It was probably as challenging a crime scene as I've seen," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said. "I've been doing this 40-plus years. I've never seen anything like it."
"Our detectives, our forensic people, are nothing short of heroes," he said. "We actually had to tie ropes around their waist as they went down in there and work right on the edge of that septic system. You know, had they lost their footing, and one did lose his footing but had one of them gone into that, we would have really been in trouble."
After making the gruesome discovery, investigators zeroed in on Keoki Hilo Demich as a suspect in Cole's murder. Officials said they found her car parked within walking distance from Demich's home and had surveillance footage showing him walking away from her car on the night she disappeared.
Officials do not have a motive for Cole's murder and are waiting for the results of the autopsy to determine how she died.