Two missing moms were found in a river Jeep. “Followed” is a lead, not a charge.

Recovery is not a homicide filing. Vanessa Bautista, 24, and Alexa Navarro, 23, of South Bend were identified Thursday after their bodies were found Tuesday in a Jeep in the St. Joseph River at Niles, Michigan. The medical examiner has not released a cause of death. Police say the vehicle appears to have gone over a steep embankment early Sunday. Chief James Millin told reporters that people have claimed someone may have been chasing the women, and that his department is looking at those statements. He also said there did not, at that moment, appear to be outside forces pushing the Jeep off the road. That is an open investigation talking. It is not a charging document.

As of Sept. 17, 2026, autopsy and toxicology were still ahead and could take weeks. Family worry about damage on the wreck is understandable. Millin said the drop was tens of feet through trees before the water. Slope and impact can look like an assault from a still photo. That is why the lab work matters.

Those facts have not been announced. The legal story is status: two deaths, no published cause, a transferred investigation in Niles, and a chase rumor the police themselves have cabined as unproven.