Officials have confirmed to ABC15 that the body of Taylorlyn Nelson is believed to have been found.
Phoenix police said divers from the Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue were conducting a search at Lake Pleasant on Thursday when they recovered the body of a female. The remains were found in the area where Taylorlyn's body was believed to be.
Her mother, Natalie Nelson, told ABC15 "It's sad, but we're glad we have her here with us...we didn't think we were going to find her ever."
The official identity of the victim will eventually be determined by the medical examiner.
In March, Nelson was reported missing by her family after they said they were concerned because she had not called anyone after arguing with her boyfriend.
In court documents, family and friends gave numerous accounts of Taylorlyn being physically assaulted by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Kodi Bowe.
They reported to police that on one occasion, “there was an imprint of the butt of a gun on Taylorlyn’s head.”
Taylorlyn reportedly told family members, “That if she ever disappeared, Kodi killed her and put her under their trailer.” She was also allegedly choked to the point of unconsciousness and seizures, and her life had been threatened many times, with a gun at her head.
Taylorlyn's sister Ashley said "Him being in jail and knowing that he's not roaming the streets hurting another person — that's what justice is."
On the night she disappeared, Taylorlyn reportedly told a friend that if she didn’t return home soon with heroin, Kodi would kill her.
Inside the home was a different story -- police reportedly located evidence including blood, a bullet hole and a 9mm shell casing. Police said that the DNA of the blood matched someone who would be a child of Nelson’s mother.
A witness reportedly overheard Bowe, his 25-year-old brother Maxx, and 51-year-old Kerrie Quaintance talking about “how hard it was to get Taylorlyn’ s body into the paddle boat at Lake Pleasant.”
Another witness told police that Quaintance told him that, “Maxx and Kodi Bowe placed Taylorlyn in a sleeping bag and attached her body to the bottom of Quaintance’s paddle boat.” She was paddled out into the lake where ropes were cut, releasing her body into the lake.
Kerrie Quaintance was arrested and booked for hindering prosecution and abandonment or concealment of a dead body, while Maxx Bowe was booked for hindering prosecution.
A GoFundMe page remains active for anyone wishing to donate to Taylorlyn's family.
