ZACHARY - The body pulled from a car found submerged in a pond in Zachary has been identified as the wife of a missing man.

Mildred Pierce was killed Wednesday afternoon after her SUV crashed into the pond. She was traveling westbound on Lower Zachary Road.

The dive team, sheriff's deputies and medics were dispatched to the pond about a mile-and-a-half east of Hwy. 19 just before 3 p.m.

Police said officers originally responded to reports of a vehicle driving off the highway and into the pond. Officers could see part of the car, tried to check for occupants and did not find any before being forced to get out of the water because the water temperature was dangerously cold. Divers discovered the her body a short time later. 

The coroner's office was notified around 3:30 p.m., and Lower Zachary Road reopened around 6 p.m.

Just spoke with Chief McDavid, he said that deputies responded to the submerged vehicle and had to pull back because of the extremely cold water. Divers recovered one body and are searching if there was anyone else in the vehicle. We’ll get closer to the scene shortly. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/ZLhfH1Ur9B

— Trey Couvillion (@treycouvtv) December 11, 2019

Mildred is the wife of Welton "Wick" Pierce, an 81-year-old man who was reported missing on October 27th. Authorities say Wick has dementia and was last seen in Zachary driving his 2002 white GMC pickup. Zachary Police are still investigating his whereabouts.