Insurance Journal, August 9, 2023
Divers working missing persons’ cold cases have found 32 cars submerged in a lake near Miami, prompting questions about the vehicles’ connection to crimes.
Multiple news outlets reported that the cars were found in murky lake in Doral, near the Miami International Airport. It’s a commercial area with a Walmart, a car dealership and restaurants, USA Today and the New York Times noted.
Investigators Doug Bishop and Ken Fleming work with United Search Corps, a non-profit that helps to reopen missing persons cases. The men told local 7 News that they had found some 60 cars across Florida, but this is most they’ve ever seen in one body of water.
Police officials said they are now investigating the findings. The vehicles will likely be removed from the lake at some point.
One official suggested the cars could be linked to the “cocaine wars” of the 1980s, when Columbian drug cartels were reported to be heavily involved in smuggling in the area, the Times reported.
Other cars were found in a lake in May in Deerfield Beach, and other waterways are expected to yield more vehicles as search efforts continue. It was not clear if insurance claims had ever been made on the cars.