Westchester Police Believe They've Found Remains Of Yonkers Minister

ARDSLEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police believe they have found the remains of a Yonkers minister who went missing in July.

As CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported, Ethel Monroe, 65, disappeared after walking away from her home July 7. Surveillance video that night showed her looking tired and disoriented. The next day, another camera spotted her in V.E. Macy Park in Ardsley, five miles from her home.

Police searched the park repeatedly, but never found Monroe, who worked as a Pentecostal minister. This week, however, a hiker discovered her purse and flip-flops, prompting a search team to return to Macy Park. They found the human remains Thursday on the edge of a pond and well off a path in an area of the park that is difficult to reach, Aiello reported. A recent drop in the water level revealed the body.

"Those officers conducted a search, and they did find human remains that we believe are those of Ethel Monroe," Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.

Daqueen Monroe, Ethel's daughter, told Aiello that her mother had been showing signs of senility and the debilitating effects of an anti-cancer drug.

"I just want my mother back," Daqueen Monroe said minutes before police made the discovery. "I just would like for this to come to closure at this point.

"She physically was frail, and mentally frail," she added.

After police informed them about their discovery, Monroe's relatives left the park without speaking to reporters.

An autopsy could confirm the identity and reveal the cause of death.

Police said they do not suspect foul play but are not ruling it out.

A Westchester County police officer was injured in the search when he cut his head with a machete while hacking through the brush, authorities said.

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