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.
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.
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.