Police in Florida have likely found the bodies of two individuals using sonar technology in a canal thought to be missing for the last 50 years.
Officials in Plantation, Florida announced on August 13 they have most likely located the remains of a 35-year old woman and her three-year old daughter who had been missing since November 12, 1974.
The discovery that the Plantation Police Department likely located Doris and Caren Wurst was made on August 10.
The pair went missing with little to no clues from their home on NW Second Street in Plantation, a residence in the now-defunct Sunshine City Trailer Park.
The disappearance remained a mystery for 50 years even after police conducted several follow-up investigations in follow-up investigations in 1977, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2018 with very little tangible results.
Along with being unable to locate the mother and daughter, police were unable to find the mother's 1961 red and white Chevrolet Impala.
The breakthrough, however, occurred when the police and Sunshine State Sonar, a volunteer group that assists police in locating missing persons, began working together in 2023.
"The investigation was a result of a 14-month collaboration with the Plantation Police Department. The dedication of the detectives involved in the case was incredible, as they never gave up on finding a resolution, even 50 years later," Sunshine State Sonar said in a statement.
Sunshine State Sonar works specifically in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The group uses sonar imaging technology to scan bodies of water to help locate missing people.
The investigation hit a breakthrough a little more than a year later when they discovered something in the canal of the 10100 block of W. Broward Boulevard.
A SCUBA dive search team then were able to pull out a 1960s model Chevrolet Impala. After discovering the vehicle, the Plantation Police Department and Broward Sheriff's Office were immediately notified.
The divers then found a pair of skeletal remains in the vehicle, one of which was from a small child.
While the next of kin of the mother and daughter have been notified of the discovery, the identities of the bodies found has not yet been confirmed.
"Usually, when someone goes missing, a car is found on the side of the highway, it's abandoned in a parking lot, or it'll show up somewhere in a junkyard at some point. So, we get involved with these cases where the vehicle is never found," Mike Sullivan, founder of Sunshine State Sonar, tells New Times.