Heater Core in Contour

I am having a problem with my heater core. When I purchased the car used a year ago the person(AH) who sold it to me said he had either bypassed the heater core, or removed the heater core and bypassed it. I don't know which it is, however I have looked everywhere under the dash etc and cannot find the heater core.

I have a replacement all set to go but am not able to find the old one or the position it goes in to replace it. Have tried following the two hoses in the firewall and still cannot locate the old one or the old position. Thanks for any info..............

I was also told that the dash does not need to be removed in order to replace it..........thanks for any advice.....

Ran a search on contour.org...came up with this.

Remove the hoses from the outside. (hassle)
Remove trim in front of center console. (couple of screws)
Remove the floor vent at the bottom of the duct. (three screws)
Remove the bottom section of duct, snaps on so dont break the tabs.
Pull it out and open it up, heater core is inside.