teacher terrilynn monette. the 26-year-old was last seen more than three months ago leaving a bar in the lake view area of new orleans. now, friends and family spoke to our local affiliate yesterday and asked why it took so long for search teams to find her car. how long has the car been there? if they searched the area, the areas been searched before and it s mind boggling to me. we never would have imagined this would have happened. how do we move on? the area of bayou st. john where her car was found was an area that had been combed over before, but this time, it took a volunteer, an independent search and rescue diver to find her vehicle. he told the media, there were also human remains inside the car. an autopsy will be conducted to officially determine whether or not those remains are of terrilynn monette, but yesterday when i spoke to her best friend and family, they said they re operated under the assumption that terry lynn is gone and she drove herself into the bayou.
friday afternoon. stephanie elam, thank you for that update. 98 days. that s how long it took police to apparently find a teacher missing in new orleans. a car belonging to terrilynn monette was pulled from a bayou yesterday. the body behind the wheel is believed to be hers. and if it wasn t for a police officer volunteering his time, that car might still be under water. cnn s nick valencia is here with more. nick, you ve been following this story. how could it take so long to find her? by the way, police have searched this area before where the car was found. i was there in mid-march when police were bringing in divers. they brought in equisearch made famous during the natalee holloway investigation. they were combing the waterways of bayou st. john. they couldn t find her. the family are still very upset and looking for answers. how long the car been there? if they done searched this area,
every month since my daughter has gone missing. i can t believe that it has taken them this long to find this car. i m in shock right now. i m in shock. how far is it? this is bayou st. john. this is slidell. how far away is this? what? from where she went missing to where they found the car. it s a city park where we are looking at people gathering in the median here. how far from where she went missing to where they found the car? that was from her apartment or from which location? where she was last seen at? yes, ma am. i would say it s about, what, maybe no more than five minutes. mm-hmm. no more than five minutes from where she left from.
can t believe that it has taken them this long to find this car. i m just, i m in shock right now. i m in shock. how far is it, this is bay ou st. jones. she went missing in new orleans. this is sly dell. how far away is this. what? from where she went missing to where she sfound the car, the city park where this is city park where we re looking at the people who are gather in the median here. how far from where he went missing to where they found the car. from her apartment or from which location? where she was last seen at? yes, ma am. i would say that s about, what, maybe no more than five minutes. no more than five minutes from where she left from. why are you surprised that it took so long to find the car.
now. i can t believe this. i can t believe this. i can t believe this. if i have to, i will. until i see something in black and white i can t believe it. i still can t believe it. i hate to ask you that question. thank you so much. we ll get back to you. she was my baby. she was your baby. we appreciate it. if you hear anything, please get back with us. we are hoping for the best for you. thank you. again, terrilyn monette went missing march 2. she was nominated for teacher of the year in new orleans and was out celebrating. they found this car just a short time ago, bayou st. john near city park. the exception here, the bit of