MEMPHIS, TN— A family's worst fears became a reality after a woman's body was discovered in the Loosahatchie River Thursday morning.
Shelby County Deputies identified the body as missing Memphis mother, Karen Thomas. Loved ones don't know what to think. Thomas' husband, Terrence Thomas, was the last person to see her alive. Memphis Police interviewed Terrence on Tuesday and investigators searched the couple's home. So far, no one has been named a suspect in Karen Thomas' death.
The 31-year-old mother disappeared last Thursday October 11, 2012.
"Her husband asked her where she was going and she said she was going out, she said she'll be back,” said Thomas’ sister Cornelia Shaw.
But Karen never returned to her Raleigh home. She was reported missing the next day after she didn't show up at work. Three days later, her abandoned SUV was discovered in the Garden Ridge parking lot at I-240 and Summer Avenue. Terrence Thomas seemed emotional when crime techs took his wife's car.
Karen and Terrence married in 2000. They filed for divorce four years later, but still lived in the same house with their two children.
Seven days after he reported her missing, her body was discovered floating in the Looshachtie River in Northaven Thursday morning October 18, 2012. A Shelby County deputy visited the couple's home again. Family members are heartbroken and confused.
"A lot of mixed emotions right now because your heart just goes out to everybody involved," said Karen’s sister-in-law Melnett Shockley.
When the Shelby County Sheriff's Office confirmed the body was that of Karen Thomas, it was something her loved ones were unwilling to admit hours earlier, although their hearts told them otherwise.
"Right now, I don't even want to think that,” said Shockley as she wiped her tears.
ABC24 News went to the couple's home Thursday, but no one was home. The family plans to have a candlelight vigil Friday at 6:00 p.m. in the parking lot of Garden Ridge on Summer Avenue where Karen's car was discovered.
