HAMILTON — Neighbors and friends of a family of five whose drowned bodies were found in a car submerged in a creek described them as friendly people who were down on their luck.

The car was found Thursday in Eagle Creek near a sharp curve on a rural road near Sparta, Ky., about 30 miles southwest of Cincinnati. Authorities removed the car and found the bodies of two adults and three children inside. Autopsies determined that they died of drowning, and authorities say foul play is not suspected.

The family was identified as Glenn Allen Johnson Jr., 33; Kendra Nicole Johnson, 26; Sevin Johnson, 5; Mekenzie Johnson, 2; and 18-month-old Mya Johnson.

Kendra Johnson was pregnant when she died, Kentucky state police said. The family most recently lived in Hamilton, but had family in Kentucky.

The family had run out of money and had moved in with a friend, Ron Spencer, in Hamilton, Spencer said. The family packed their car and left Dec. 27 to visit Glenn Johnson’s mother, Marilyn Robbins, in northern Kentucky.

When they did not arrive after two days, Spencer became concerned. Robbins thought the family might have taken off on a spontaneous vacation, he said.

“But I told (her), ‘No, I don’t think so.’ They didn’t have any money when they left,” Spencer said. “I thought something happened because I hadn’t heard from them, and they called me every day.”

Robbins, of Saunders, Ky., first told Hamilton police Jan. 1 that no one had seen or heard from her son for two weeks, police spokesman Sgt. Tom Kilgour said.

“There was no sign of foul play, no indication of any kind of problems,” he said. “Adults can go wherever they choose.”

Nine days later, with the family still missing, Robbins filed five missing persons reports, one for each member of the family.

Police do not know how long the car had been in the water. Little of the car was visible, but a passer-by spotted it and alerted authorities.

According to the missing-person’s reports, Kendra Johnson worked at Racers, a dance club in nearby Sparta, and Glenn Johnson was unemployed.

Johnson was convicted of second-degree burglary and stalking in Carroll County, Ky., in 1998. He was sentenced to five years in state prison and was released in 2000 after serving about 2½ years, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

The family’s neighbor in Hamilton, Judy Johnson, no relation, said when she heard news reports about a family of five found dead in Kentucky, her heart sank.

“I thought, ‘I hope it’s not them, but I’m afraid it probably is,’” she said. “They were a very nice couple — great people, with great kids.”

The family had lived with Spencer, 62, for about two years but were loners and knew few other people besides neighbor Judy Johnson and her children, Spencer said. He said he thought Kendra Johnson was expecting her fourth child in about two or three months.

“They were real close friends of mine, almost like family,” he said.

Their eldest child, Sevin, had gone to Van Buren Elementary School, near Spencer’s house in Hamilton.

“Sevin was a lively, fun-loving, very bright little boy who brought lots of smiles to our faces,” said principal Joan Schumacher.

Authorities do not know what caused the crash. From the scene, it appears the car missed a sharp curve in the road, sending it down a concrete culvert and into the creek. 
 

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