Macomb County Probate Court has declared that a 55-year-old New Haven woman who disappeared 15 months ago is legally dead and probably was slain by her husband before he killed himself.

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Judith Mattise, 55, was last seen leaving her home on May 19, 2003, in a silver 2003 Chevrolet Impala with Michigan license plate number 3AQW95.

Her husband, James Mattise Sr., 61, was found dead on May 21, 2003, in his car with a suicide note next to him, according to police. Investigators say he strangled himself using a plastic zip tie. He filed for divorce in April.

Police have said that if James Mattise had not committed suicide, a murder warrant for his arrest would have been issued, even without finding his wife's body.

In September 2003, Macomb County sheriff's deputies found Mattise's car abandoned on Adelaide Street near Comerica Park in Detroit.

Police searched through the car, but did not find Mattise (pictured, above) or any evidence of her whereabouts.

"The family has suffered with this tragedy through its entirety and are trying to put this tragedy behind them," the couple's three adult children said Wednesday in a statement to The Macomb Daily.

Family lawyer Edward Keller said the July 26 declaration from chief probate attorney Rodney Lubienski lets the family start disbursement of their parents' assets and life insurance.

The couple ran the precision-measuring products company together, lived in New Haven, and had a second home in Las Vegas.