By Megan Kelley
Clarkston News Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — A missing Independence Township woman was found dead on Monday after three days of searching by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a post on the sheriff’s office Facebook page around 2 p.m. on Monday, authorities found the woman, who was previously identified as 38-year-old Lacie Nicole Santia, in Waterford Oaks County Park. “There appears to be no foul play, but in any event we are checking everything,” the post read.
On Sunday, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office announced that they were seeking the public’s help in locating the woman who was believed to be in, or near, Waterford Oaks County Park.
Santia’s family reported her missing on Saturday morning, telling authorities that they were concerned about her emotional state, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. Deputies were able to locate Santia’s unoccupied vehicle on Saturday in the parking lot of the county park with the keys still in the ignition.
The sheriff’s office deployed its drone unit, search and rescue team, K-9 unit and aviation unit, and also worked with the Waterford Township Police Department, United States Border Patrol and Metroparks Police Search and Rescue Team but none of the searches and tracking yielded any results. The sheriff’s office resumed the search on Sunday and then again on Monday.