44°
Eastchester police reported late on Friday that a body matching the description of the longtime resident – who suffered from dementia – had been spotted river.
“It was heartbreaking when we heard the news on Saturday,” Howie Phelps said outside Eastchester Town Hall. “You see our elderly neighbors walking around town all the time, and you don’t think that something like this is going to happen.”
Cotter was reported missing on Tuesday. Neighbors teamed with local and county police to form a task force that searched for her along the Bronx River Parkway. Police checked each train station between Scarsdale and Grand Central in case she had gotten lost on the rails.
The task force distributed fliers around Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe and Scarsdale with limited success. Bloodhounds, all-terrain vehicles and a helicopter were used to search the woods around the Bronx River Parkway.
The Westchester County Police said a volunteer searcher found a hat and reported it to the police on Friday afternoon. An Eastchester Police officer later saw a body in the water.
Bronxville resident Ray Braun said that Cotter's neighbors were holding out hope until the bad news came out.
“With the response of the community and from the police, I really thought there was a chance we’d get lucky and see a miracle,” he said. “It’s a tragedy that this had to happen.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Eastchester and receive free news updates.
