Missing Ind. Couple Found Dead After Anniversary Celebration

Jan. 21, 2009— -- The bodies of a missing East Chicago, Ind., couple who disappeared nearly two weeks ago after celebrating their wedding anniversary have been found in an area creek, confirming their worried family's worst fears.

Arthur "Shonteau" Joshua, 39, and his wife Latavia, 35, were found Tuesday in their SUV by a construction worker who was in the area on a bulldozer, East Chicago Police Sgt. Juan Beltran told ABCNews.com.

The worker noticed a snow-covered vehicle protruding from a creek in Gary, where the Joshuas were last seen, Beltran said..

"She was on top of him, frozen," Beltran said of the couple who had two teenage children.

Charlene McFerson, Shonteau Joshua's mother, told ABCNews last week that her worst fear was "that they're on the side of the road, frozen."

Andria McFerson, Shonteau Joshua's sister, said Tuesday that the family is stunned but grateful to have an answer about what happened to her brother and sister-in-law.

"They completed each other," she said. "They're going to be buried together."

Police are waiting for the bodies, which were frozen, to thaw before autopsies are done to determine whether the couple died from the impact of the crash or if they drowned.

Temperatures in the area have dropped to below freezing in the time the Joshuas have been missing.

Beltran said the car was nearly completely flipped over on its roof. From the way they were found, it appeared Latavia Joshua wasn't wearing a seatbelt, he said, but it was unclear if she had unbuckled the seatbelt trying to escape.

"We're glad that they were located to bring closure to the family," Beltran said. "And our hearts and prayers go out to them."

McFerson said the family was working out guardianship for the Joshuas' children, Paris, 15, and Shonteau Jr., 17.

"This week has prepared them to accept there might be a bad outcome," she said.