Family releases more details about mom found dead in sunken car
CORDOVA, Tenn. — A Cordova man is looking for answers after his wife was found dead in a large retention pond in east Shelby County Friday night.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said Kristen Fundo, 35, was still wearing her seat belt when divers found her body inside her submerged vehicle at Grays Hollow Drive South and Grays Mill Drive off Walnut Grove Road.
Woman's body found submerged in Shelby County pond
SCSO said there were no signs of foul play. Her husband said the medical examiner's office told him there was no trauma to her body.
Michael Fundo, who is a private contractor in Saudi Arabia, was out of the country when it happened.
He said that just an hour earlier, his wife had been at a Collierville restaurant with a friend. He said he Facetimed her while she was at her table.
Fundo said he had been tracking her phone as she left the restaurant and became alarmed when she didn't answer the phone or reply to his text messages. He said he saw her drive toward the pond around 8 p.m.
Fundo said that was the same time her phone died and when the sheriff's office received a call about a vehicle being submerged in the water.
'It was near my brother's neighborhood. I don't know if that is where she was trying to go,' said Fundo. 'I called my brother to see if our car was there.'
Fundo also sent a text to his wife saying he loved her, he hoped she was okay, and he was panicking really bad.
Fundo said his family is devastated by his wife's death. Kristen worked at Christ Methodist, and the couple's daughter attended the Christian elementary school.
He said the school has been very supportive of the family, waived his daughter's tuition, and brought in counselors for students and faculty.
'No daughter should ever grow up without a mom,' Fundo said in a Facebook Live post after returning to Tennessesee.
A family member has started a GoFundMe to help with funeral and travel expenses. Fundo said he wants to let his daughter stay in her school and will be going back and forth from Memphis to his job in the Middle East.
A cause of death has not been released. Fundo said he was still waiting on a toxicology report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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