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Body of Navy wife from Hampton discovered 2 years after she went missing in San Diego

Posted at 2:20 PM, Dec 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-08 06:12:36-05

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The body of a woman from Hampton who vanished in 2014 was recovered two months ago in a waterway near a hotel in San Diego, police said Wednesday, FOX 5 San Diego reports.

Elizabeth Sullivan, 31, went missing in the San Diego area on October 13, 2014.

Elizabeth Ricks Sullivan

She is reportedly a graduate of Kecoughtan High School.

Her body was found in the San Diego Bay near the Courtyard Marriott on October 4, 2016, and she was identified through dental records, authorities said.

Homicide detectives have since launched an investigation into her death, San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden said.

Her last contact was a text message sent the day she went missing. Police said her phone has been turned off since then.

Her Navy husband, Matthew, admitted to PEOPLE magazinethat the couple was having marital problems and he didn’t know where to look for his missing wife.

“I’m at the end of my rope,” he told PEOPLE in 2014. “I’m running on fumes right now, I don’t know where to look. I’m always looking around the neighborhood, trying to catch a glimpse of her. Even if I got a phone call saying she’s okay, it would put my mind at rest. But nothing at this point.”

Missing person flyer from the San Diego Police

In the time since her disappearance, Sullivan’s family members had enlisted the help of a private detective, distributed missing person fliers and set up social media pages dedicated to the search efforts. A GoFundMe.com account was set up to help fund the efforts and raise money for a reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

A family statement posted in October 2015 to a Facebook page dedicated to finding the “beloved mother, daughter, sister, cousin and friend” said the investigation had “gone completely cold.”

“We have found no leads. Neither have the police or a private investigator,” according to the statement.

Family members said in an update on the fundraising site that all local hospitals, morgues, jails, homeless and women’s shelters have been checked several times and that her information had been added to a national law enforcement database.

Police are currently in Virginia with her family, who say they are “devastated” by the news.