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State police at Shickshinny has renewed their investigation to find a woman missing for more than 48 years.
Ilonka Cann, a 22-year-old mother of a 15-month-old boy, was reported missing by her husband, Charles Cann II, on May 26, 1970. Charles Cann last seen his wife at their residence on Cann Road in Huntington Township.
Cann was a school teacher when she was reported missing.
State police said a renewed investigative effort has been undertaken into the facts and circumstances surrounding Cann’s disappearance. New information has been developed regarding the investigation but state police has not released what they recently learned.
State police did say DNA samples have been obtained from Cann’s relatives, which were provided to the National Missing Persons DNA Database in an attempt to help identify Cann if her remains are discovered.
The Times Leader reported in 1970 that Cann, when she was reported missing, was 5 feet 6 inches tall, approximately 122 pounds, had blonde hair and blue eyes.
In the months after Cann’s disappearance, a team of scuba divers from the Scranton Police Department searched a pond on the Huntington Mills farm near her residence but did not locate a body.
Cann’s case will be discussed at today’s Missing Persons Day held at Wilkes University Henry Student Center on the second floor. The event begins at 1 p.m. and is hosted by the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, state police and NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System).
Any family and friends of a missing person are encouraged to attend the event, and are asked to bring at least two biological relatives of the missing loved one and any police reports, x-rays, or other identifying documents, such as dental and medical records.