After an extensive three-day search, the body of 60-year-old missing resident Martha Runyon was discovered yesterday morning in the Delaware and Raritan Canal by a passerby, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Doris Galuchie said Runyon was found wearing a backpack full of bricks and her death has been ruled a suicide.
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Runyon’s body was discovered just before 9:30 a.m. in the canal water by a woman who was walking her dog along the canal path, Galuchie said. Her office said the body apparently lay submerged in the water while an intensive search that included several law enforcement agencies continued, then surfaced and floated downstream before coming to rest against the embankment where it was found.
Runyon was found 300 yards south of Litho Road and about a mile from her home on Rose Tree Lane, from where she was reported missing by her husband early Monday.
She was last seen at the home around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and had left the residence on foot, without her purse or cell phone, police said.
An employee of the Mercer County Division of Culture and Heritage, Runyon was described by a longtime co-worker, Tricia Sagan, as an artistic and kind person who appeared to have been troubled in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. Though she was much loved by her coworkers, she kept what was troubling her private.
Last Friday, charges were filed against her for drunken driving after she was stopped by police in Sinking Spring, Pa., Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said.
Runyon’s mother died in February and the family had held a memorial service for the woman three weeks ago, Mercer First Assistant Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said.
Police began searching for Runyon Monday morning. The search included police officers, a bloodhound from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and a State Police helicopter.
On Tuesday, the Lawrence fire department and the State Police continued the search by conducting an extensive ground search around Runyon’s home and along the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail, Onofri said. The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office and FBI also assisted.
“This is devastating news and we’re heartbroken,” County Executive Brian Hughes said. “Martha was an important part of the Mercer County family for the past nine years. Right now our thoughts and prayers are with Martha’s family during this difficult time.”
Runyon was responsible for the division’s newsletter and worked in a four-person office at the Division of Culture and Heritage. She also used her artistic talents to help design images and posters for other parts of the county government as well, Sagan said.
“She’s going to be missed,” Sagan said. “A lot of what people identify with the county visually is work done by Martha.”
