32 Cars Fished Out Of Florida Lake, And Some Have Been Submerged 20+ Years

Divers searching for clues in a missing persons case came across 32 cars in a lake in Doral, Florida. The volunteers search large bodies of water across the state to uncover evidence linked to cold cases. In this particular instance, they were looking for links to a man who disappeared on the way to collect his family from Miami International Airport in the 1980s. Given the lake’s close proximity to the airport, divers picked this location and uncovered way more than they bargained for.

Detective Alvaro Zabaleta with Miami-Dade Police Department said, “Most likely, the types of vehicles that we’re going to find here, dumped in this lake are vehicles that perhaps have been abandoned and they wanted to get rid of them and they got rid of them here. Or those that took them for a joy ride, they were stolen, and then they were dumped inside the lake. Of course, we’re not going to discard the possibility of some type of fraud that could have also occurred, and other types of foul play like a homicide.”

So far, Police have confirmed at least two of the vehicles were reported as stolen in the early ‘00s. Most of the cars are thought to have been sitting at the bottom of the lake for over 20 years and could be linked to historic criminal cases. Given there are more than two dozen cars down there, recovery operations are likely to be ongoing for a while.

Volunteer diver Ken Flemming, told WSVN 7, “When we discover a spot like this with multiple vehicles, it pretty much indicates that a crime where they’re disposing the vehicles and hiding them from law enforcement.”

Although the cars have been rotting away for decades, some are recognisable as they’re dragged from the water. Police have recovered a 2002 Nissan Altima, an Acura Legend coupe and a suspected sixth-generation Cadillac De Ville.