A two-decade-old mystery may be resolved thanks to a volunteer dive team and a recovered vehicle. The Chaos Divers discovered the automobile in a southwest suburban retention pond over the weekend with human remains inside. It became a scene dozens gathered to observe next to the Hodgkins Target off Joliet Road this past weekend. A car caked in mud and soot was hauled out of the pond. Jose Zaragoza said he watched the entire event unfold. “Watching this at first, I was like, I’ve seen this on TV before, like ID channel things like that,” he said.
“As soon as the little buddy went over that with the sonar, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have a car!'” Lindsay Bussick is with the Chaos Divers. CBS News Chicago introduced the group last week when they reported the team had located more than 90 cars while patrolling the Chicago River, as part of efforts to resolve cold cases. Bussick said they came to the retention pond to work on a separate missing persons investigation when they discovered the vehicle.
“This would probably be the smallest body of water that we’ve located a vehicle in,” she said. Hodgkins police said the retrieved sedan is a 1998 Lincoln Town Car with human remains still inside. They tied it to a 2001 missing persons inquiry. “I sensed there was somebody in there just by the reaction of the diver and police officer,” Zaragoza said. Hodgkins police said they are confident the medical examiner’s office will be able to identify who was in the car. They said they remain stunned and never would have expected this 5-foot deep retention pond would conceal a car for over 20 years. “That water is so murky that the divers, when Jacob and Derrick went down that way, they couldn’t even see the vehicle. Everything they did that day was completely by brail,” Bussick said. She said that when they uncover cars like this, it brings both sorrow and solace to families. “Regardless of who it ends up being, we are just incredibly grateful that we have been able to provide them some answers,” Bussick said.
And while police said this is under investigation, people who drive near this area frequently, like Zaragosa, are amazed that the closure one family needed was submerged here the whole time. “I know it happened over 20 years ago, but didn’t anybody see tire tracks or something like that?” he said.
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