MARTINS FERRY, OHIO — After being missing for more than three years, the bodies of Joni Davis and Brian Goff were pulled from the Ohio River between Wheeling and the Ohio community of Martins Ferry two weeks ago.
The find of the couple’s bodies, still inside the vehicle they were last seen in, was made by the Southern Illinois diving group ChaosDivers. The group is a number of divers who find out about cold cases with vehicles into bodies of water and go searching for them.
Jacob Grubbs, lead diver of Chaos Divers recently appeared on MetroNews ‘Talkline’ and explained exactly what they do and how the discovery was made on Nov. 11 that gave a break in the high-profile missing persons case that captivated much of the Northern Panhandle.
Grubbs said the idea of the group came from when a few of them were cleaning out river systems and came across vehicles. After a few dozen vehicles were found, they found a body inside one.
“We decided that we need to continue to do this and try to help out families. With the sonar systems we use, we can try to locate these vehicles and get point a to point b from where these folks have been missing from to see if we can be assistance,” Grubbs said.
So how did Chaos Divers end up in the Ohio River looking for Goff and Davis? Grubbs said they were coming back from a search for another missing person when they drove past Rush Run Road on Ohio Route 7, realizing it was where the couple’s phone last pinged from before going missing.
Surveillance footage from 2018 showed the couple’s light blue Oldsmobile 88 going north on Ohio Route 7 near the Hanover Fuel Stop in Martins Ferry the night of June 10, 2018 before it went missing. It was near there where they were located
Grubbs said sonar was sent to the area of concern and the group came across the vehicle. He stated that after a few years of being in the water, the vehicles become easier for the sonar to pick up. Grubbs said he could only see a foot and a half in front of him in the Ohio River before placing a magnet on the car.
He said that while it’s gruesome discoveries made constantly by his group that giving closure to families motivates him.
“Giving answers to families is something we have strived to do because I couldn’t imagine missing my family for three and a half years,” Grubbs said.
“You know I have been through a lot in my life and I have learned to accept. It’s a loving feeling to bring family members to the lost. It’s whatever I can do to help the family members out.”
The FBI and an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Crime Scene Unit are on the case of Davis and Goff.