ANNOUNCEMENT — Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, left, holds a joint press conference Thursday with Belmont County Sheriff Dave Lucas to announce that the remains of a missing couple, Brian Goff and Joni Davis of Martins Ferry, were found in the Ohio River. -- Shelley Hanson

STEUBENVILLE — The remains of a Martins Ferry man and woman who had been missing for more than three years were found in the Ohio River by an Illinois-based dive team near Rayland on Thursday.

During a Thursday afternoon press conference at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Fred Abdalla said the remains of Brian Goff, 64, and Joni Davis, 55, were found inside the vehicle that they were last seen in — Goff’s light blue 1990 Oldsmobile Delta 88.

The couple was last seen on June 10, 2018, leaving a Pizza Hut on National Road in St. Clairsville. Goff was Davis’ caregiver. Davis previously suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The vehicle was found in the Ohio River between one or two miles north of the Rayland Marina, Abdalla said. The car was found in water about 8 feet deep.

Abdalla said officials do not have a cause of death, as the remains must be forensically studied by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The car was discovered by divers Jacob Grubbs and Mark St. John of Chaos Divers of Illinois. Chaos spokeswoman Lindsay Bussick said the team was in the area to search for another missing person ­– Karen Adams, who was last seen in Hancock County — when they were asked to also take a look for Goff and Davis.

“We looked at the maps and we had an idea where they might be based on the cell phone’s last ping,” she said.

Bussick said the team used a Hummingbird Helix 10 sonar. The area where the car was found was a location that had been checked in the past by local authorities.

Grubbs explained during the press conference that sonar technology can often work better when a vehicle has been underwater a long time, when it is covered in mud and debris.

Bussick said the team was glad to help find the missing couple.

“Both families can go to bed knowing where their family members are,” she added.

Abdalla said the car’s location in the river was off Little Rush Road about a mile or two north of Rayland.

He said the forensic investigation will also include the state of the vehicle, to see if there were any mechanical issues with it prior to entering the water.

“I hope it was an accident or even a suicide,” Abdalla said following the press conference of the possible cause of death.

Abdalla was accompanied by Belmont County Sheriff Dave Lucas and Lucas’ main investigator on the case Lt. Randy Stewart. Both thanked Stewart for his hard work on the case. Also on hand were Abdalla’s investigators Sgt. Aaron Ellenberger, Chief Deputy Susan Bell, Sgt. Gary Slates and Capt. Joseph Lamantia, who were also thanked for their work as well.