The search for a missing Clarion University student Saturday in a wooded in rural central Clarion County led to the accidental discovery of an elderly couple dead in a vehicle.

Close by, about 100 feet or so away, searchers found the 21-year-old student, also deceased.

The cases are “separate incidents,” said Lt. Christopher Neal, crime unit commander for Troop C Punxsutawney, which includes Clarion County.

Foul play is not suspected in any of the deaths, according to investigators. The findings of the bodies by chance and in the same vicinity in Paint Township was a mere fluke.

“It appears just to be a bizarre coincidence,” admitted Trooper Shawn Nicewonger, the lead investigator into the death of James Whitman of Florida, who was a senior at Clarion University.

While Whitman's off-campus roommates had reported him missing over the weekend, there were no such reports for Samuel Paine, 78, and his wife, Lucille, 80, of Strattanville, Clarion County.

The investigation into the Paines' deaths is continuing, but investigators believe the couple — unbeknownst to anyone — crashed their small SUV over a hillside near Bigley Road and the Toby Creek bridge.

Police are uncertain when the crash occurred, possibly Thursday, or maybe Friday. The vehicle wasn't badly damaged and it was still on its wheels.

The SUV had traveled about 40 feet down the hillside, Nicewonger said, and the wreckage was hidden from passing motorists.

The road doesn't get much traffic.

”It's like one of those no-winter-maintenance roads,” said Clarion County Coroner Dan Shingledecker. “Not a lot of people go on it.”

The Paines, however, did, a family member told authorities, when out and about from their home less than 10 miles to the southeast.

They “used to travel that road all the time,” Shingledecker said, citing what the couple's relative advised him.

From the position of the bodies, Samuel had been driving, and Lucille was in a front passenger seat. Shingledecker pronounced the couple dead around 6 p.m. Both had injuries, he noted, that appeared consistent with being in a crash.

Because of the effect of the cold temperatures on the bodies, it was not immediately clear when the couple died.

Autopsies were performed Monday by Erie County forensic pathologist Eric Vey. Results of the postmortem examinations were not immediately available.

Search crews comprised of state police and volunteer firefighters. The Clarion Hose & Fire Co. No. 1 happened upon the deceased couple as they looked for Whitman.

Searchers had narrowed their focus to that area after “pinging” the student's phone, said Shingledecker. They also tracked in the snow a set of footprints believed to be those of Whitman, said Neal.

His body was found a little above the bridge in the area of Bigley Road. When police posted a news release online Saturday about finding Whitman dead, they listed the death as “accidental.”

On Monday, investigators declined to elaborate on the accidental death listing. An autopsy was not immediately planned in Whitman's death.

But that could change, Shingledecker noted, should the police investigation warrant it.

One of the remaining mysteries to unravel, said investigators, is the reason the young man ended up in the scenic and secluded locale near the Paint-Highland Township line.

“The big question is why was he was there in the first place,” Shingledecker said. “I don't know. I wish I knew.”

It's an unanswered question for police too.

“We're still trying to figure out why and how he got there,” Nicewonger said.

Authorities estimated Whitman's body was found about two miles from where he lived while attending Clarion University. They said they were also trying to determine if he walked there or got a ride.

Police found Whitman's ID on him. Shingledecker pronounced him dead, just minutes before he did the pronouncements on the Paines.

Getting answers to questions, Neal acknowledged, is not always easy.

“These investigations take time to unfold,” he said, “We have to see what (Whitman's) state of mind was. We'll interview his friends. We'll interview anybody that was around him. We'll take a look at whatever communications he was doing.”

Afterward, police will discuss their findings with the coroner before a final cause and manner of death are determined.