NIAGARA FALLS

Body recovered from base of falls

Niagara Parks Police say they have recovered a body from the Niagara River.

Members of the Parks Police High Angle River Team, assisted by the Maid of the Mist, recovered what they are calling “unidentified human remains” at approximately 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The body was spotted in the river between the American falls and the Canadian shoreline. The case is being investigated by the coroner’s office and members of the Niagara Regional Police 2 District Criminal Investigations Branch.

ONTARIO

River body ID’d as missing Hamilton woman

A woman whose body was found floating in the upper Niagara River last month has been identified as a Hamilton woman who vanished four months ago.

The investigation is being treated as a homicide. It is Niagara’s first homicide of the year.

Laurie Funke, 48, was last seen leaving a friend’s home in Hamilton on Feb. 26.

Her body was found May 19 in shallow waters along the Niagara River Parkway, near one of the service roads in the vicinity of Black Creek.

On June 11, forensic testing positively confirmed the woman’s identity.

The current investigation involves both the NRP and homicide detectives with the Hamilton Police Service.

Niagara Falls

• BURGLARY: Police are investigating a burglary in the 3300 block of D Street. A 33-year-old woman told officers that sometime between 8:45 a.m. Tuesday and 3 a.m. Wednesday someone broke into her home. The victim said a 32-inch flatscreen TV was taken.

Cambria

• MARIJUANA: Scott Lindemuth, 24, 181 Saxton St., Lockport, was charged Wednesday with unlawful possession of marijuana. The report said police pulled the suspect over for speeding and after a pat down, police found a small bag of a green vegetable substance in Lindemuth’s front left pocket. Lindemuth is due at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Town of Cambria Court. Police will submit the bag of green vegetable substance to the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department lab.

Wheatfield

• DRUG OFFENSE: Jillian Shaffer, 23, 3205 Rachelle Drive, North Tonawanda, was charged Thursday with unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal possession of a controlled substance. The report said police stopped Shaffer after seeing her exit the parking lot of the Sawyer Creek Hotel erratically and at a high rate of speed. Shaffer said she had consumed one drink and was heading home. When asked if there were any illegal drugs or weapons in the vehicle, Shaffer replied, “I have some weed in there.” The report said Shaffer gave police a prescription pill bottle filled with marijuana. Police asked if there were additional drugs in the vehicle to which she replied no. A search of the vehicle revealed a prescription pill bottle containing two and one half hydrocodone pills and one oxycontin pill, none of which Shaffer had prescriptions for, the report said. Police also found a glass smoking pipe in the vehicle. Shaffer said the pills were her mother’s fiancee’s and she had taken them from him to “experiment.”

City of Lockport

• NO LICENSE: Nichole Edmister, 33, 4027 Purdy Road, was charged Monday with third degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The police report said police saw Edmister speeding on South Transit Street and operating a cell phone while driving. Upon checking her driver’s license it was found to be suspended, the report said. Edmister is due at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Lockport City Court.

Town of Lockport

• LARCENY: An Office Max employee reported Wednesday that an unknown person removed a touch screen Hewlett Packard computer from the Transit Road business. The employee said that he checked the store to make sure it was not moved and he could not find it. The report said the value of the computer is $1,500.