The remains of a body found in Lunenburg in November have been identified as those of Virginia Edmonds of Kenbridge.

Edmonds, who was 73 when she was last seen, disappeared from her home on June 28, 2013. Her body was discovered by Steven R. Seamster while hunting in the Flat Rock Creek area on Nov. 26, according to a press release. The remains were confirmed to be hers Jan. 25.

Approximately two months following Edmonds’ disappearance, her 1999 silver Oldsmobile Alero was found in the woods near Egg Road. Lunenburg Sheriff Arthur Townsend said her body was found in the vicinity of where her car was discovered.

“My heart goes out to the Edmonds family after nearly four years of not being able to locate … Edmonds,” Townsend said in a press release. “I hope that this development brings closure to their difficult loss.”

The discovered remains were sent to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Richmond for testing.

In 2013, authorities said Edmonds reportedly suffered from dementia. She apparently disappeared from the house for the third time between 6:30-8 p.m. on that June day in 2013. One of her sons said then that it was normal for his mother to occasionally leave the house to run errands.

At the time, authorities said Edmonds was last seen wearing a Members Only-style black jacket with black shoes and driving her 1999 silver Oldsmobile Alero. She was also said to have a surgical scar on her upper chest.

Two months after her

vehicle was found, there were extensive searches for Edmonds, as there were for some time before the recovery of her car.

Authorities then said they received a tip she used to baby-sit at a house near where the car was found. Edmonds reportedly would take the children she watched for walks around a nearby park, circling back to a stream to play in the water. Investigators said at the time that a trail of latex balloons was found leading from the car — but there was no sign of Edmonds.

Helicopters and professional search and rescue teams helped out. Lakes were searched. It was all part of a more than 18,000 man-hours hunt. A 12-mile radius was searched using data from a study on the wanderings of 600 dementia patients.

Townsend said his deputies and the other agencies helping “exhausted every avenue” they knew of to locate Edmonds, but also said they hadn’t really given up.

Townsend also said at the time everyone involved in the searches had kept the Edmonds family on their minds.