HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Authorities confirmed that human remains found last week in Miami Gardens are those of a Hallandale Beach woman who has been missing since 2010.
The Hallandale Beach Police Department and Florida Department of Law Enforcement made the announcement during a news conference Thursday morning.
Lynda Meier, 40, disappeared after leaving her Hallandale Beach home in June 2010.
Surveillance video shows her inside an elevator before she left her apartment building. She was later seen using an ATM at a Bank of America.
Police said she was supposed to pick up her mother from a doctor's appointment, but never arrived.
Her Cadillac Escalade was found a week later in Opa-locka.
Hallandale Beach Police Chief Sonia Quinones said an anonymous tip led investigators to Miami Gardens, where human remains were found last week in a wooded area. Quinones said dental records confirmed the identity.
Meier's mother and two brothers attended the news conference.
"All these years I prayed that we would find something about where she was, and this does make a difference," Phyllis Meier said.
Authorities didn't reveal how she died, but they said they now consider it to be a homicide.
"She is not out there alone now. She has a family and we will take care of her," Phyllis Meier said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.