FLORENCE, Ky. - The months-long search for a missing Florence couple came to an unfortunate end Thursday when a central Kentucky coroner identified the remains of Crystal Warner.
Jacki Darwish of Cleves and other members of their Jeep club had searched for Crystal and her boyfriend after they disappeared in July.
"Crystal was awesome," said Darwish. "She was lively. She was bubbly. She loved life."
Warner's remains were found in Bath County last month, the coroner said. Officials said it was too soon to determine the cause of death.
Bobby Jones's body was found in August near Winchester, Kentucky.
Darwish said she and Crystal, 35, had been friends for years and she had bonded with Jones, 38, in a local Jeep club.
"We are Jeepers that have become family. Nobody is left behind. Nobody is left alone. We're a big family. We'll stick together," Darwish said.
The Jeepers searched for Crystal and Bobby with Dave Rader of Texas Equusearch.
"Week after week we'd go down and we search and we search and we search and unfortunately we didn't find anything," Darwish said.
Police have already made an arrest in the couple's deaths. Craig Pennington of Springfield was charged with murder on July 8 - the same day their car was found off Interstate 75 in Scott County.
Pennington had rented a cabin from the couple and reportedly was behind in his rent. He is also charged with abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Pennington's next court date is Dec. 21.
