Authorities in the Niagara Falls area have identified the body of a missing St. Joseph woman.

Deborah Pelto, 55, had been missing since she left on a trip to the East Coast on May 6.

Canadian police found Ms. Pelto's abandoned car in a parking lot at Niagara Falls. Ms. Pelto grew up in Rochester, N.Y., close to the Niagara Falls area.

Ms. Pelto's sister and brother-in-law, James and Kathy Meadows, live in Kansas City.

Mr. Meadows said a tourist aboard the Maid of the Mist, a boat that tours the waterfalls, spotted a body floating at the bottom of the falls. Authorities recovered the body on June 11, almost a month after Ms. Pelto's disappearance, but the dental records didn't match Ms. Pelto's.

It was later revealed that there was an error in processing the dental records, and the body was, in fact, Ms. Pelto's. Her family was notified on Friday.

Mr. Meadows said all evidence showed that Ms. Pelto had jumped. He said she had been battling with mental illness for some time.

"It was bittersweet when we found out, but we are happy for the closure," he said.

Ms. Pelto was described by her neighbors at the Summit Place Apartments, 516-520 N. 10th St., as a polite and outgoing person who loved being around people.