Divers Discover Submerged 1970s Chevy Possibly Linked to Missing Sisters
Divers in Florida who have been searching for a vehicle in a missing persons case from the 1990s have discovered a different vehicle that could be connected to an even older case.
A private dive team working with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida were searching for a Mazda that may be connected to missing woman Brenda Starr Snouffer when they unexpectedly found another vehicle.
Mike Sullivan and John Martin, founders of Sunshine State Sonar, discovered a submerged vehicle in Lake Tarpon Canal that they identified from parts as a 1970s Chevy Vega.
The car could be linked to the disappearance of 17-year-old twin sisters Patty and Peggy McDaniel, who went missing from the Pompano Beach area of Florida in 1979. The matter is considered a cold case.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office issued a statement to Newsweek on Wednesday morning.
"On Friday, July 21, 2023, at approximately 9:19 p.m., deputies responded to a call regarding a submerged vehicle located by Sunshine State Sonar. The PCSO dive team will continue to attempt to recover the vehicle. The investigation is open, and we will provide updates as they become available," the statement said.
Sunshine State Sonar found the submerged vehicle using sonar on Friday. "At that time, we were assisted by Ken Flemming from ReCon Dive Recovery, who dove to the vehicle, to get us a description of the vehicle," said Martin, according to Fox13.
The team attempted to remove the vehicle, but it was in such a poor state that it began to break apart. Another attempt to remove it was also made on Monday and a further attempt is reportedly planned.
"We [were] just talking to the divemaster over there, and they felt around inside the vehicle, and they did not find any human remains in it, which is, which is a good thing," Sullivan said on Monday, according to local outlet 10 Tampa Bay.
"And so they attempted to take it out, which we knew it was going to be an extremely difficult task. The car was so brittle. It's been underwater for 30-plus years, most likely, and yeah, it's, you know, the axle broke apart. And, you know, they did the best they can," he said.
Two wheels from the vehicle were pulled out of the canal as the dive team attempted to extract it on Monday.
Sullivan explained how the type of vehicle had been identified, saying that one of his divers "pulled up a piece of the steering wheel with the Chevy emblem."
"And he pulled off a piece of plastic from the eight-pillar with a GM part number, we were able to reference that part number on that eight-pillar to an early 1970s Chevrolet Vega," Sullivan said.
"These things sometimes are absolutely impossible. If these guys can't get it out, nobody can get it out," he said.
Sunshine State Sonar has searched 12 bodies of water in an effort to find the vehicle that Brenda Starr Snouffer was last seen driving—a turquoise blue 1993 Mazda Protégé.
Snouffer was last seen on April 21, 1995, at around 9:15 a.m. after dropping off her daughter at elementary school. She never returned to the school to pick up her daughter.
Snouffer was involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle at the time of her disappearance and was scheduled to testify at the criminal trial of her husband, Scott Irving Snouffer, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Peggy and Patty McDaniel were originally from New Jersey, according to Project: Cold Case, but relocated to Florida. They were reported missing in September 1979 and the case has never been resolved.
Update 07/26/23, 07:13 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
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