Missing person linked to cold case

GENOA — Two recent dives into an Ottawa County quarry are related to a decades-old missing persons case, police said. Three dive teams participated after police received a new lead in the 57-year-old cold case of a missing woman, Elizabeth Franks, last week at a quarry in Genoa. The quarry at Veterans Memorial Park in Genoa was shut down last Tuesday morning so Ottawa County, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Toledo Fire & Rescue could conduct a search for a submerged vehicle they believed related to Franks' disappearance, which was relayed by a retired Toledo police detective. Toledo Fire & Rescue provided a side-scan sonar, a device used to take pictures of sea floors. Two cars were pulled from the quarry but neither contained evidence to the case or matched the description provided by the detective, according to Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick. Elizabeth Franks, 17, was last seen April 14, 1965. At the time, she was married to a twenty-year-old man and had a one-year-old daughter together. They lived in Toledo. Her mother reported her missing after a fight Elizabeth had with her husband. According to the Charley Project, Elizabeth is a Caucasian woman with red hair and blue eyes. She has a small mole on the back of her left thigh and a chicken pox scar on her nose. She goes by Beth or Bethie. Her maiden name is McCarthy, but she has also used the name Wilson. She would be 75 years old this year. She is considered endangered and missing. Her case was reopened in 2004 by her daughter, who is now 59. The case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected. Anyone with information should call the Toledo Police Department at 419-245-3142.