The body of a woman missing for 6 years was found in a car submerged in a New Jersey river

Vanessa Smallwood, seen here, was last seen in January 2014. Divers from the Walker Diving Underwater Construction Company were removing debris from the river when they saw what they believed to be human remains in the car, state police said in a news release. Authorities responded and recovered Smallwood's body. By Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, CNN

(CNN) -- The body of a woman who had been missing for six years has been found in a New Jersey river, according to State Police Trooper Charles Marchan.

The body was recovered from a submerged car in the Salem River on Thursday, Marchan said, and later identified as that of 52-year-old Vanessa Smallwood, who was last seen on January 27, 2014.

Divers from the Walker Diving Underwater Construction Company were removing debris from the river when they saw what they believed to be human remains in the car, state police said in a news release.

Authorities responded and recovered the body, it said.

According to a FBI missing persons poster, Smallwood was last seen at a dry cleaning business in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, driving a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country van.

The Southern Regional Coroner's Office will perform an autopsy on the body, New Jersey State Police said. The case remains under investigation.

CNN has reached out to the Southern Regional Coroner's Office for comment.

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