Opinion | A murder investigation, a boat launch and a pile of underwater cars

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That fisherman Brody Loch discovered a submerged vehicle with the body of a missing man from 1967 is an amazing stroke of luck for the family of the deceased (“Car in river linked to 1967 disappearance,” Aug. 15). Hopefully the medical examiner will be able to positively identify the remains as that of 59-year-old Sauk Rapids man Roy Benn.

That a submerged vehicle was discovered in the river came as no surprise to me. I’m a retired police detective, and when I was working a homicide in 1997, our investigation brought us to the shores of the Mississippi River as it flowed past Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul. On the night of the murder, a witness had observed some kind of suspicious activity by the boat ramp at the park involving a vehicle. Witnesses to the homicide had provided the make, model and color of the suspect vehicle, and we had every cop in the state looking for it. By nightfall, our investigation still lacked the stolen vehicle used as a getaway in the crime so we thought just maybe the perps had pushed the vehicle into the river.

With the aid of the FBI’s scuba team, an underwater search was conducted. The conditions, with the murky moving river water, complicated the identification. Some of the fish locators used today might be better than what we used at the time since very little identification could be accomplished under water. When the divers initially found a vehicle, we were pretty excited thinking maybe we got lucky. This vehicle was found slightly downriver from the boat launch with no other vehicles in contact with it. We called for a tow truck with a heavy duty winch and, as with most things in law enforcement, we waited.

That first vehicle brought to the surface was a 1920s Ford. Then, the question became: “So — what do we do with this one? It’s clearly not the one used in the homicide, and we can’t really just push it back in.” So a second tow truck was called. The next vehicle tugged out was a late-1980s Ford Taurus. Not our car. Called another tow truck.

Now, if you’ve ever had your car towed, you know this is an expensive proposition. Though the Police Department had a contract with the tow company, there remained a per-vehicle charge and there seemed to be no end to the pile of cars in the river. After some bureaucratic haggling by those with the checkbook, it was decided that the divers should attempt to take the license plates, if present, off the submerged vehicles or, at minimum, some piece of trim (side mirror?) to match the color of the suspect vehicle since witnesses had provided this info.

I always thought what an interesting project it would be to bring these vehicles to the surface and investigate who they belonged to, what crime, if any, they were involved in and … who was in the trunk. There is a mystery tied to every one of these vehicles and a reason each of them ended up in the river. I have a feeling this boat launch isn’t the only one with a mausoleum of submerged cars beneath it. Perhaps some long unsolved missing persons, like Roy Benn, could be found, or some unsolved murders resolved. If you decide to jump into this endeavor, just remember to bring your checkbook.