Most ludicrous example of the "you just imagined it" horror movie trope

So in a bus crash in a moving river, with no other survivors, a guy refuses to believe the woman he loves about an old woman being in the vehicle despite:

- nothing exceptional / implausible about an old woman being on board
- the river could have moved the body
- physical evidence: an article of clothing
- since no other survivors, nobody says that there was not an old woman

I love Val Lewton and Universal, but this is a prime example of a mediocre 40s horror/suspense movie. When a movie's isn't working you notice era-typical things, in this case everyone (except for the bug-eyed, overacting character actor) stiffly speaking in theatrical mid-Atlantic accents, the absence of romantic chemistry, extras moving like a herd, the overbaked string-filled score, and the complete lack of momentum.