Authorities in Elmwood Park yesterday identified one of two bodies pulled from the Passaic River on Sunday as that of Beverly T. Spano, the Waldwick mother of three who was reported missing last week.Meanwhile, authorities continued their effort to identify a girl of about 2 whose body was found in the river Sunday afternoon downstream in Clifton.
Elmwood Park police used dental records to confirm the adult body as that of Spano, 44, a public relations professional whose disappearance
triggered a massive search last week.
Spano had been reported missing Thursday, after a relative found her gold Ford Windstar minivan parked at the Elmwood Park marina at River Drive and Washington Avenue. The van was unlocked and Spano's purse and car keys were inside.
Divers spent the better part of two days in the area where the van was found before the search was called off Friday night. Two boaters from Clifton found her body around 6 p.m. Sunday, about a mile south of where her van was parked.
Downriver in Clifton, meanwhile, two fishermen made a similarly grim discovery hours before Spano's body was found. The men told police they found the body of a young girl, stuffed in a plastic bag, floating at the water's edge near the Ackerman Avenue bridge.
Clifton police Detective Lt. Richard Berdnick said officers were following several leads. He declined to provide further information, saying that doing so would risk compromising a joint investigation between city police and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.
Elmwood Park authorities spent yesterday trying to determine how Spano ended up in the river.
She worked in media relations in New York for UBS, the financial services company, from 1991 to 1993 before leaving the firm to start her own public relations company, UBS spokesman Kris Kagel said. After Spano left the company, she continued to work for UBS on a freelance basis, Kagel said.
Spano had three children -- two of elementary-school age and a teenager. Her husband told police he last saw his wife on Thursday, and that she
had behaved normally that day, said Elmwood Park Police Chief Donald Ingrasselino.
Ingrasselino said authorities do not think foul play was involved.
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