Gloucester woman missing for 7 weeks found dead

Gloucester County — The search for a woman who had gone missing from an assisted living facility in early December has ended after her body was recovered in Gloucester on Friday.

She was identified Saturday as Ashley Cerasole, a 29-year-old who had disappeared from the Cary Avenue Adult Home in Gloucester seven weeks ago.

An investigation involving several law enforcement agencies led officers to a swampy area on the back side of the Fox Mill subdivision, where Cerasole’s body was found, according to the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office.

The cause of her death is still unknown, pending a full autopsy, a sheriff spokesman said Saturday.

Surveillance footage showed Cerasole walking south on Main Street near Fire Station 1 on Dec. 3, 2020. Officers were told she continued toward Walmart. Since she was reported missing, officers had searched for her with drones and dogs.

Cerasole, who had seizures and schizoaffective disorder, moved into the adult home in September.

Elisha Sauers, elisha.sauers@pilotonline.com, 757-222-3864