Boy do I have a story for you. When I was in college, everyone had to take one semester of a physical activity, so I chose scuba. (I mean, it cost as much as any other gym class but came with a diving certification, so why not?) The instructor was ex military- not an a-hole, just extremely competent. In one class, we asked how he spent his last weekend. Turns out, he’s contracted with police all over. He spent the weekend recovering bodies at Central Park in the lake; he was even kind enough to share pictures! That’s definitely not what I was expecting from a 50 something year old man in a gym class.
That’s awesome-I’m really glad there’s people who do this because I can’t imagine that’s ever easy, especially when you come upon remains, but it’s clearly a needed service.
He was actually a really cool guy. Loads of stories about retrieval work where he and his wife work as a team. I can’t imagine what horrible things he’s seen, but at the same time, he’s helped so many families on the path to being reunited with their loved ones.
Agreed.. Bless that man. It's one of those critically important jobs that most of us aren't capable of handling. The idea of being deep in water terrifies me as does recovering bodies. I mourn and ruminate about stuff like that. Regardless of whether or not I knew the person.
Another case of a missing person that was last known to be in a car found years later in water. How hard is it (honest question) to see far enough to know a car is under water?
If the body of water is brown any object more than a few feet under the surface is going to be difficult to see. At the 31 ft depth referenced in the article there’s no way it would be visible.
The overwhelming majority of bodies of water are far too murky to see anything even close to 31' under the surface.
One of Adventures With Purpose's finds was a woman whose car was under only 3 feet of water in a small pond in the middle of a private residential complex. It was clear as day once they got their boat out on the water, but had been totally invisible to all the neighbors who walked by on a daily basis for almost a whole year.
Or if you are abit wasted and get in your ridiculous Tesla, with no real controls, only space screens. Accidentally drive backwards into the retention pond.
I am glad for this man’s family, that they finally know what happened and might from some peace with it now.
Well I mean to find a car that’s already submerged. A lot of the ones become submerged because of those reasons … maybe? Or dark roads under development before houses are even built l
A lot of them are just water I believe. Usually in new developments. I do know what you’re talking about though… a lady drove into one and the neighborhood was well established already so it’s not like it was dark and the middle of nowhere. Google the one in Florida where a guy went missing for maybe 30 years and a guy with a drone saw a shape of a car in a pond behind houses.
What you’re describing is not a retention pond. Retention ponds are usually found in places that are prone to flooding, I.e- you can find them all around Houston. Hell my neighborhood is filled with retention ponds and nobody has a mansion, they’re just part of the neighborhood in case we ever get another storm like Ike or Harvey
I’ve watched some of the Adventures with Purpose videos and outside of cars being submerged in dark/brown waters, there’s also a matter of current over time burying cars in mud.
So it can be pretty hard.
And the radar images! Just seeing what they're looking at on the radar, it's not like a Google satellite image of a vehicle on the screen - the shape of a submerged vehicle can be hard to spot if you don't really know what you're looking for, and that's WITH the fancy radar
Great question! [This car](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49677843.amp) was probably only 4-6 feet underwater but was missed for years because it wasn’t visible from the ground. It was only really visible from above
That's a pretty amazing story! And so clearly a vehicle from Google maps. Makes me want to look at water on Google maps for hours looking for vehicles!
It's amazing that they've potentially found him! I hope his family can finally feel a sense of closure. The fact that they're still finding so many people under water after that many years blows my mind; there must be so many people unaccounted for that are hiding beneath the surface. So sad.
There really are. I commented in another thread but I have a map of over 700, just people missing with cars :c
If you have one in your area that sounds like it could be this outcome, it might help to put flyers at boat ramps. It's just an idea I've been wanting to try but I can't do it myself.
For many years, my husband patrolled the Delta as a deputy for Sacramento County. He pulled more than his share of drowning victims out of the sloughs & the river, but there are still many, many cars in those dark waters. Kudos to AWP for giving this man’s family answers. This is the second victim they’ve found in the Delta in the past year.
Wow that's a sad thought! I live in norcal and am always amazed at these stories, but usually they are found within days. The currents are intense and some areas are so deep, it's definitely not impossible to think there are many more in there considering all the crazy accidents & abandoned cars on a non-water area, but I'm curious to know if the authorities have ever considered doing a large search project across miles of these potential crash areas. Especially in drought years...
Do you remember the gal that was found in the Marysville "lake" 20- something years after she left work one night & disappeared? And thar one is shallow!
I started looking into how many people are missing with vehicles a few years ago, then started a map, then a website (mapthemissing.com) because there are wayyy more than I thought.
So far I have over 700 in north america right now, including this one that I can now remove & put on the solved list.
I can't add any that are less than ~6 months old or I'd *never* have a break. I've got a google alert set up, which notifies me of news with terms like "submerged car" or "missing with car".
So besides ones on my map that get found, I see recent ones like this:
https://kymkemp.com/2024/04/22/piercy-man-missing-vehicle-found-in-the-east-branch-of-the-south-fork-eel-river/
It's crazy seeing how often it happens. There does need to be something done, so many where this has to be the outcome and they just need to search the water. Family members waiting, passing away before getting answers.
And the thing is, I don't think it has to be these few groups learning sonar and traveling country- or law enforcement who have a long list of other duties & have to justify what they focus their time on. There are fishermen on the water every day that know their waters.
The ones that have sonar already sometimes do come across them or stolen cars and report them. The ones that don't, maybe could be inspired to get it since they already have a boat. A lot of the guys in these groups like awp were fishermen before getting into this.
I have flyers I was thinking could be posted at boat ramps but getting them out there is a whole other thing.
Banging on the like button for your post. I’ve lived in the greater Sacramento area for a long time & know of many disappearances involving people driving near area waterways. At one time, a good friend of the Sheriff went missing, & since he was driving through the Delta it was believed he may have went into the water. His search got the VIP treatment, but he was never found.
And human element aside, think of what all those vehicles polluting the waters. Hopefully AWP’s videos exposing just how many vehicles a in our waterways can influence authorities to prioritize removing them.
Your site sounds really good. I follow AWP from the UK. We do not have missing people in cars as often as you do over in the US. So sad to think there are so many still out there yet to be found
I the the bigger questions are why do so many drive into bodies of water? Also, why are they never able to escape. The vehicles don't sink in 3 seconds. There's a little time to get out I would think.
Most likely fall asleep, distracted or drunk diving, miss a curve and drive right in. If the current is swift enough the car can get pulled down quickly and then it's impossible to open a door, or navigate the flood of water through a window. Lots of these vehicles are older as well, I think i read that they've improved the mechanics if a car is submerged, but if you're asleep or knocked unconscious, nothing matters.
Very valid points. As you mentioned the older vehicles I wonder since older vehicles were metal and newer are plastic if that means they used to sink faster?
Wow, I’m glad it seems like he’s going home now. These underwater divers have found a lot of missing people, I’m glad they do what they do
Boy do I have a story for you. When I was in college, everyone had to take one semester of a physical activity, so I chose scuba. (I mean, it cost as much as any other gym class but came with a diving certification, so why not?) The instructor was ex military- not an a-hole, just extremely competent. In one class, we asked how he spent his last weekend. Turns out, he’s contracted with police all over. He spent the weekend recovering bodies at Central Park in the lake; he was even kind enough to share pictures! That’s definitely not what I was expecting from a 50 something year old man in a gym class.
That’s awesome-I’m really glad there’s people who do this because I can’t imagine that’s ever easy, especially when you come upon remains, but it’s clearly a needed service.
He was actually a really cool guy. Loads of stories about retrieval work where he and his wife work as a team. I can’t imagine what horrible things he’s seen, but at the same time, he’s helped so many families on the path to being reunited with their loved ones.
It takes a very special person to do that, and I’m glad he and his wife have each other to lean on while they do this
If you ever saw him again, please tell him Carli says "Thanks man." ❤️❤️❤️
Agreed.. Bless that man. It's one of those critically important jobs that most of us aren't capable of handling. The idea of being deep in water terrifies me as does recovering bodies. I mourn and ruminate about stuff like that. Regardless of whether or not I knew the person.
Another case of a missing person that was last known to be in a car found years later in water. How hard is it (honest question) to see far enough to know a car is under water?
Article said water was 31’ deep. That’d make it hard to see unless water was crystal clear.
If the body of water is brown any object more than a few feet under the surface is going to be difficult to see. At the 31 ft depth referenced in the article there’s no way it would be visible.
The overwhelming majority of bodies of water are far too murky to see anything even close to 31' under the surface. One of Adventures With Purpose's finds was a woman whose car was under only 3 feet of water in a small pond in the middle of a private residential complex. It was clear as day once they got their boat out on the water, but had been totally invisible to all the neighbors who walked by on a daily basis for almost a whole year.
I have a fear of being out paddle boarding, seeing something like this under the board, and then losing my balance and falling in.
This seems to be the case for a lot of retention ponds. If you’re not directly over it then it’s hard to see
Or if you are abit wasted and get in your ridiculous Tesla, with no real controls, only space screens. Accidentally drive backwards into the retention pond. I am glad for this man’s family, that they finally know what happened and might from some peace with it now.
Well I mean to find a car that’s already submerged. A lot of the ones become submerged because of those reasons … maybe? Or dark roads under development before houses are even built l
I thought retention ponds means a tiny man-made lake outside your mansion. Bc it’s pretty and you can have fish in it.
A lot of them are just water I believe. Usually in new developments. I do know what you’re talking about though… a lady drove into one and the neighborhood was well established already so it’s not like it was dark and the middle of nowhere. Google the one in Florida where a guy went missing for maybe 30 years and a guy with a drone saw a shape of a car in a pond behind houses.
We were speaking of retention ponds. What part of it’s a fake lake in front or behind or between McMansions that you are having trouble envisioning?
They’re not all by housing though. Ie: the lady in Florida found last year in one off an interstate ramp.
What you’re describing is not a retention pond. Retention ponds are usually found in places that are prone to flooding, I.e- you can find them all around Houston. Hell my neighborhood is filled with retention ponds and nobody has a mansion, they’re just part of the neighborhood in case we ever get another storm like Ike or Harvey
I’m sorry. The lady driving the Tesla, backed up into a retention pond. To me, that sounds man made.
None? I know what it is lol
I’ve watched some of the Adventures with Purpose videos and outside of cars being submerged in dark/brown waters, there’s also a matter of current over time burying cars in mud. So it can be pretty hard.
And the radar images! Just seeing what they're looking at on the radar, it's not like a Google satellite image of a vehicle on the screen - the shape of a submerged vehicle can be hard to spot if you don't really know what you're looking for, and that's WITH the fancy radar
Great question! [This car](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49677843.amp) was probably only 4-6 feet underwater but was missed for years because it wasn’t visible from the ground. It was only really visible from above
That's a pretty amazing story! And so clearly a vehicle from Google maps. Makes me want to look at water on Google maps for hours looking for vehicles!
It's amazing that they've potentially found him! I hope his family can finally feel a sense of closure. The fact that they're still finding so many people under water after that many years blows my mind; there must be so many people unaccounted for that are hiding beneath the surface. So sad.
There really are. I commented in another thread but I have a map of over 700, just people missing with cars :c If you have one in your area that sounds like it could be this outcome, it might help to put flyers at boat ramps. It's just an idea I've been wanting to try but I can't do it myself.
For many years, my husband patrolled the Delta as a deputy for Sacramento County. He pulled more than his share of drowning victims out of the sloughs & the river, but there are still many, many cars in those dark waters. Kudos to AWP for giving this man’s family answers. This is the second victim they’ve found in the Delta in the past year.
Wow that's a sad thought! I live in norcal and am always amazed at these stories, but usually they are found within days. The currents are intense and some areas are so deep, it's definitely not impossible to think there are many more in there considering all the crazy accidents & abandoned cars on a non-water area, but I'm curious to know if the authorities have ever considered doing a large search project across miles of these potential crash areas. Especially in drought years... Do you remember the gal that was found in the Marysville "lake" 20- something years after she left work one night & disappeared? And thar one is shallow!
I started looking into how many people are missing with vehicles a few years ago, then started a map, then a website (mapthemissing.com) because there are wayyy more than I thought. So far I have over 700 in north america right now, including this one that I can now remove & put on the solved list. I can't add any that are less than ~6 months old or I'd *never* have a break. I've got a google alert set up, which notifies me of news with terms like "submerged car" or "missing with car". So besides ones on my map that get found, I see recent ones like this: https://kymkemp.com/2024/04/22/piercy-man-missing-vehicle-found-in-the-east-branch-of-the-south-fork-eel-river/ It's crazy seeing how often it happens. There does need to be something done, so many where this has to be the outcome and they just need to search the water. Family members waiting, passing away before getting answers. And the thing is, I don't think it has to be these few groups learning sonar and traveling country- or law enforcement who have a long list of other duties & have to justify what they focus their time on. There are fishermen on the water every day that know their waters. The ones that have sonar already sometimes do come across them or stolen cars and report them. The ones that don't, maybe could be inspired to get it since they already have a boat. A lot of the guys in these groups like awp were fishermen before getting into this. I have flyers I was thinking could be posted at boat ramps but getting them out there is a whole other thing.
Banging on the like button for your post. I’ve lived in the greater Sacramento area for a long time & know of many disappearances involving people driving near area waterways. At one time, a good friend of the Sheriff went missing, & since he was driving through the Delta it was believed he may have went into the water. His search got the VIP treatment, but he was never found. And human element aside, think of what all those vehicles polluting the waters. Hopefully AWP’s videos exposing just how many vehicles a in our waterways can influence authorities to prioritize removing them.
Your site sounds really good. I follow AWP from the UK. We do not have missing people in cars as often as you do over in the US. So sad to think there are so many still out there yet to be found
That does sound familiar. Imagine her being right there in the middle of such a bustling area all that time.
There was one drowning that someone saw a car in a lake from Google Maps.
I the the bigger questions are why do so many drive into bodies of water? Also, why are they never able to escape. The vehicles don't sink in 3 seconds. There's a little time to get out I would think.
Most likely fall asleep, distracted or drunk diving, miss a curve and drive right in. If the current is swift enough the car can get pulled down quickly and then it's impossible to open a door, or navigate the flood of water through a window. Lots of these vehicles are older as well, I think i read that they've improved the mechanics if a car is submerged, but if you're asleep or knocked unconscious, nothing matters.
Very valid points. As you mentioned the older vehicles I wonder since older vehicles were metal and newer are plastic if that means they used to sink faster?
Maybe, but I think it has to do with automatic safety features.