The remains of a man from Florida who disappeared more than 20 years ago were found this week thanks to a hobbyist named Barry Fay, who spotted a submerged car in a retention pond in Palm Beach, thanks to Google Earth satellite imagery, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported.
The remains of a man who was missing for more than 20 years have been found after his submerged car was spotted on @googleearth.
— UkPlusMore 🇬🇧 (@UkPlusMore_) September 12, 2019
William Moldt was 40 when he went missing in 1997 after a night out at a club in Lantana, Florida. pic.twitter.com/zEvaHw9JbB
When the police arrived on the scene, they pulled the vehicle out of the pond and discovered skeletal remains inside.
“The vehicle’s exterior was heavily calcified and was obviously in the water for a significant amount of time,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The remains in the car belonged to William Earl Moldt, who disappeared in Wellington on 7 November 1997. Last time he was seen, he went out of a nightclub and went home, and did not appear to be intoxicated, data from the US National Missing and Unidentified Persons System says.
William Earl Moldt https://t.co/5wsvheSeu7 William #disappeared exactly 19 yrs ago in #florida. #truecrime #missing pic.twitter.com/e7DvnYGFub
— Unfound (@UnfoundPodcast) November 7, 2016
According to the Charley Project, which keeps an online list of missing people, the submerged car had been clearly visible on Google Earth photos since 2007, but nobody noticed it for more than a decade.
The remains were identified on Tuesday, Fox News reported, adding that no further details were released.
