Missing Elderly Cedarburg Man Found Dead in Pond

The body of Miles Leppla, the 91-year-old Cedarburg man who mysteriously disappeared after being seen driving away from his home one evening in October, was pulled from a pond in Germantown on Wednesday.

The vehicle was pulled out of a pond after a property caretaker had reported a vehicle in the water on Wednesday, according to JSOnline.com. The Germantown Fire Department Dive Team then discovered a body inside. 

Miles Leppla's son, Ray Leppla, is a Port Washington firefighter. Signs for the missing man have dotted Port Washington and the surrounding area since his disappearance on Oct. 4.

In an article posted on Oct. 13, Ray Leppla told the Ozaukee Press that his father rarely broke his routine, and the fact that he would leave late at night made no sense.

"We’ve looked all over Ozaukee County. We have the police department, sheriff’s department and all the fire departments looking for him. It’s like he fell off the planet," he told the Ozaukee Press. "He goes to see my mother every morning and stays until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, then goes home or visits me in Port Washington. That’s about as far as he drives."

In an article posted on Nov. 4 on Desertnews.com, family members said they feared foul play was involved in his disappearance. 

Miles Leppla moved to the town of Port Washington when he was very young, and stuck around to work at Gibson in Port for some time, before moving to work at a farm in Germantown and eventually retiring from Cedarburg Supply Company, according to his obituary on the Eernisse Funeral Home website.

Funeral services will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cedarburg, with visitation starting at 4 p.m.