Authorities scoured Tecora Young's vehicle Tuesday after it was towed from the Broad River to the sheriff's department impound lot. A day after the car of a missing 77-year-old Asheville, N.C., woman was pulled from the Broad River, authorities were able to determine her death was a tragic accident.

Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said medical records were used to confirm the identity of the remains found in the car as that of Tecora Young. Finding no evidence of foul play, Young's death was ruled an accidental drowning following an autopsy.

Known by some friends and family as "Momma T," Young had been missing since Oct. 18 when she left a family gathering on Estelle Road in the Concord area and reportedly set out for the Birnie Street residence of another relative to spend the night.

She never made it to Birnie Street, however, touching off searches by family members and police. Their search efforts, which included family members walking along the roadways and the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office sending up a plane to look from a loftier vantage point, were fruitless.

On Monday morning, however, workers from Duke Energy spotted a vehicle submerged about 50 feet from a boat ramp in the Big Bay area of the Broad River. Divers were brought to the scene and Young's mudcaked Buick sedan was pulled from the water.

The car was submerged in about seven to eight feet of water and only was visible because the water level in the Big Bay had been lowered.

While Fowler released his findings earlier in the day Tuesday, investigators still were looking into the case on Tuesday afternoon.

Cherokee County Sheriff's Office investigators along with members of the South Carolina Highway Patrol Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) spent several hours going over Young's Buick, which was parked in the Sheriff's Office impound yard.

While investigators at the scene couldn't offer comment, they checked the vehicle's engine, brakes and wheels and at one point requested the assistance of the Gaffney Fire Department, which brought over a fire truck to hose the mud off the car so the investigators could get a better look.

Fowler and Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said MAIT was asked to take a look at the car to check for any mechanical problems.

Ironically, the location where Young's vehicle was found was exactly the same as a car belonging to Verlishia Littlejohn, a Gaffney woman who went missing in November 2007.

Littlejohn's body was found in the river about four miles downstream from the Big Bay area in January and her car was found several days later submerged in about 15 feet of water near the same boat ramp where Young's vehicle was found.

Fowler had ruled Littlejohn died from drowning but has never issued a ruling on the manner of her death. The case remains open.