Last Updated: 3:27 p.m.
See pictures from the scene at the foot of the article.
Moments before the press conference this afternoon, Rita Haney hugged her niece, Natasha Harper, and the two cried.
Haney is Mary Lou Combs’s sister, one of nine children, three of whom have now passed. Harper is Combs’s daughter. She was almost 13 when her mother vanished almost a quarter century ago.
After a family argument Mary Lou Combs disappeared on Aug. 1, 2003. She’d left her home at 3 Sanchez Avenue in her red 1996 Dodge Neon, license plate G53RUB. She was 41, the mother of three, and an employee at Food Lion in Flagler Beach, back when Flagler Beach had a Food Lion.
She didn’t show up at her daughter Natasha’s 13th birthday four days later. She didn’t pick up her paycheck at Food Lion, from where she had been fired days before her disappearance. She was not seen since. Nor was her car.
Today, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, speaking in the presence of Combs’s family at a Sheriff’s Operations Center press conference, announced the closure of that cold case, one of the oldest in the agency’s files. The car was found, as were human remains tied to Combs. She would have been 64.
“We share your sorrow,” Staly told the family, saying that at least the family could now have answers.
“As a little girl, my mother was my best friend and my everything when she went missing,” Harper said in a statement in front of whirring cameras, and at the sheriff’s side. Her voice trembled. “our worlds changed so much, and it has not been the same since. For over 22 years, we’ve known that our mother did not simply leave us, but we still grieve her and missed her kind and loving presence. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has always been supportive, and they’ve always done their best, and when detective Sarah Scalia came in contact with independent divers, Vernon Shurtz [from Helo & Sub] and Ken Fleming [from Recond Dive Recovery], everything changed. They’ve searched tirelessly, dedicating countless hours and doing so much behind the scenes, all about balancing lives and families of their own.
“We owe so much to those men and to Sarah and the FCSO for finally finding our beautiful mother, sister, grandmother, daughter and friend. She would be honored to have such a team caring about her and helping her family find peace. We’re forever grateful that we can finally say goodbye. Thank you to everyone that has played a part in this blessing. May our mother rest in paradise.”
Staly was flanked by sheriff’s deputies, detectives, private company representatives who helped in the search, and Jason Carley, the FBI’s special agent in charge who led the search on the federal agency’s side. “It really does appear that it was an accident at this point,” Staly said, though there are still unanswered questions, and the case officially remains under investigation.
Then-Sheriff’s deputy John Reckenwald took the missing-person report. Reckenwald was at the press conference today.
The Sheriff’s Office launched a cold case unit in 2020 because, Staly said, “it is our responsibility to be the voice of victims and their families so that we can bring closure to these cases.” Sheriff’s Cpl. Andrew Cangialosi picked up the case, as did the agency’s dive team.
Oct. 25, volunteers found an upside-down car in the Intracoastal near 18th Road. The Sheriff’s dive team went in, but due to the depth, 17 feet under water and partially buried in mud, they requested help from the FBI’s dive team in Miami and its response team in Jacksonville. The vehicle was in poor condition due to being submerged in salt water for 22 years,” Staly said. The vehicle was upside down.
After conducting an underwater survey in DEcember 2025 to determine how many people would be needed for the work, the FBI provided close to 30 people for the mission, some from as far away as Quantico, Va. Staly was at the scene. “The FBI operation was just over the top with resources and the capabilities they had,” he said.
“FBI divers entered the vehicle through a broken driver’s side window,” he continued. “FBI dredging equipment was used to suction contents into an evidence recovery basket on shore where FBI Evidence Response Teams carefully sifted through sediment to locate evidence items recovered.” Parts of the car were consistent with a Dodge Neon. A shoe size seven, was recovered, consistent with Mary Lou’s shoe size. So was a driver’s license in almost mint condition.
“Toys which Mary Lou’s daughter Natasha, who was 13 years old when her mother went missing, confirmed the toys were hers,” Staly said. Human remains were confirmed by an on scene FBI forensic anthropologist. “That’s the kind of research source resources that we were given. They flew and anthropologist to the scene during this operation,” he said.
Divers entered the car through an open window and recovered evidence, sifting through mud.
“What we believe occurred is that Mary Lou accidentally drove into the Intracoastal Waterway at the end of 18th Road,” Staly said. That driveway used to be an old boat ramp, and Combs was not the first person to be lost to it. It has since been blocked.
The current carried the car north, near 66 and 68 Hernandez Avenue. A window was damaged, suggesting she tried to escape.
She is survived by her thre children, three children, Natasha, Robert and Jeremy, six grandchildren, and six brothers and sisters. Two others have since died. Her mother died two years after Combs was reported missing. Her father had died in 2001.
“To Mary Lou’s family, we know this is not the outcome that anyone hoped for. We know it’s been a long and painful journey for you all,” the sheriff said. “You had many, many years of uncertainty and wondering what happened, and so we hope this recovery brings you some comfort, the truth and a chance to honor her memory properly. So on behalf of the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, we share your sorrow, but at the same time, we share your–I don’t want to say happiness, but at least now you have some answers and can properly recognize your mother and siblings.”
The goal, he said, was always to bring resolution to the case. “This was truly a multi-agency and community effort requiring team work to bring Mary Lou home,” the sheriff said. He presented several awards to the various teams that participated in the effort.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to work on 16 open cases, including 11 homicides, four missing persons and one “undetermined.”
“So if you know something, no matter how small you could have that small piece that will help us bring the truth, will help us bring closure to a family or someone to justice, and that victim receiving justice,” Staly said. “So please contact the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Our non emergency line is 386-313-4911, or you can email tips at flaglersheriff.com. You may also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. Someone out there may still hold a piece of information that helps us complete this investigation or helps us solve one of our other cold keys cases. We need your information.”
CHARLES Bub ROBSON says
Good job all!!
Laurel says
I got to give the Sheriff’s Department credit, they certainly were diligent in the search.
The ICW is kept dredged, by the Army Corp of Engineers, for the passage of large vessels. I believe a minimum of fourteen feet in the center. There is an incredible amount of silt from debris, that has been building up over the years. With these large working vessels, and all the boat traffic stirring up the silt, it would seem close to impossible to see anything at the bottom of the river. This last time the divers were there, the water was crystal clear due to less boat traffic during cold weather. I’m sure that helped them, though that silt is stirred up with any action. Being such a narrow channel, the current is often dramatic making a search even more difficult.
Most road endings had make shift boat launches for the local, small fishing boats and canoes. The area had a small population, who knew about, and used, the launches. The Hammock was extremely dark at night, until recently with all the growth, so a small error in judgement would have disastrous possibilities.
So sad such an event happened.
The Sheriff’s Department really stuck with it! It was clearly very important to them. I’m glad that they brought information, and some closure to the family. I cannot even imagine what the family went through all those years!
Earthgirl says
It was private divers who ultimately located the vehicle. At least the family gave them credit if law enforcement didn’t in anything I read.
Good old boys club says
Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Sheriffs office to dredge both sides of the ICW, who knows what they’ll find.
CJ says
The Sheriff’s Office is not a dredging company.