Authorities: Elderly Ormond Beach woman drowned in submerged car in retention pond near her residence

The Volusia County Sheriff's Dive Team recovers the submerged vehicle with the body of Rose Bruce in it, from a retention pond near her Ormond Beach residence as shown here, first with the initial discovery at far left and with the removal of the vehicle in the inset photo.

ORMOND BEACH -- It was a freak accident that led to the tragic death of 79-year-old Rose Bruce, the Walmart employee missing since Monday night for nearly three days before a team of divers found her body in the back seat of her car in a 9-foot-deep retention pond across from her residence.

An autopsy Friday confirmed what had been speculated after the grisly find: Her death was caused by drowning as she tried in vain to escape. Authorities believe Bruce swerved to avoid a parked trailer and ended up in the pond.

Here is a written synopsis of what likely occurred as described by Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes: "Troopers believe the crash occurred on Monday night between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. (She) was traveling southbound on an unfinished road next to the parking lot of of Love Whole Food Cafe. Troopers believe that (the ) driver took evasive action and steered to the right. (She) left the roadway and traveled into the pond, becoming completely submerged."

Volusia County Sheriff's deputies assigned to the dive team searched the retention pond near her house Thursday, spotting her Bruce's 1997 four-door blue Honda Accord.

Though there were several people in surrounding counties who responded to an earlier statewide Silver Alert believing they may have seen her, those earlier reports didn't pan out, which led deputies to retrace her possible steps nearby, including the retention pond, Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said.

A surveillance video from the Ormond Beach Walmart where she worked showed her leaving Monday night. She apparently returned home to the San Marco Apartments and prepared dinner before going out again to pick up her daughter-in-law from the same place where she worked. But she never made. The daughter-in-law returned home with her husband and discovered the elder Bruce had left the oven on and saw that her car was gone so she called called 9-1-1. 

The Sheriff's Office distributed a flyer to Central Florida media outlets including Headline Surfer, with the elderly woman's photo and a physical description. A Facebook page was set up for her as well by her family and the Silver alert was issued.

There was fear and speculation that she may have been carjacked or something else, but in the end, she lost her life in a tragic mishap, authorities said. 

Recognizing the public spectacle of the elderly woman's car being pulled from the pond Thursday with her body in it, Sheriff Ben Johnson posted a message on his own Facebook page out of respect for her grieving family: "I ask that you join me in lifting up Rose's friends and family in prayer as they await the closure of this awful tragedy."

Headline Surfer is Florida's first 24/7 Internet newspaper launched April 7, 2008, initially as NSBNews.net. It is based in New Smyrna Beach, covering Volusia County and throughout the Orlando Metropolitan Area via HeadlineSurfer.com, NSBNews.net and VolusiaNews.net. "Headline Surfer" is a registered trademark owned by NSB News LLC, for editorial, marketing and advertising purposes. All rights reserved.