Body found near where Elizabethtown woman was swept away in Conewago Creek

 

Update: The body has been idenfitied as Laura Olweiler

(Undated) — Three days after 19-year-old Laura Olweiler went missing while trying to cross the flooded Conewago Creek with a relative, a woman’s body has been found.

Police are stopping short of saying the deceased is Olweiler until the Lancaster County Coroner conducts an autopsy and looks at dental records, said Pennsylvania State Police Spokeswoman Trooper Megan Frazer. 

“As of now there are no reports of anyone else missing in the creek,” Frazer said. 

Police have notified Olweiler’s family that a body was found, Frazer said at a press conference Thursday night. Foul play is not suspected.

Frazer lauded efforts from fire departments, police, other first responders and volunteers — a crew of over 200 people — though, as it happened, the person who located the body was not part of the search team. The body was found about three-fourths of a mile downstream of the area near Koser Road where Olweiler was swept away Monday night. 

Heavy rain and flood conditions across parts of the region complicated efforts to locate Olweiler, Frazer said. 

She reminded people to stay away from flooded roads and riverbanks, noting that in Adams County, 18-year-old Alejandro Morales drown Wednesday in Conewago Creek. 

“Never, ever attempt to cross standing or moving water,” Frazer said. “It is dangerous. It has already taken two lives in this area. We don’t need more.”