Underwater Searches Solve Mysterious Missing Persons Cases

The growing number of DNA identifications of missing people (and criminals) gets well-deserved attention. But another set of technologies is also locating more and more people who disappeared mysteriously -- underwater searches using sonar, remotely operated underwater robots and divers. In some cases, overwater searches by drones are also locating these people.

These cases often involve people who were last known to have been driving somewhere, then disappeared along with their vehicles. Many of the discoveries are being made by volunteers, from well-organized groups to individuals "fishing" with magnets.

Erin Foster, 18, and Jeremy Bechtel, 17, in Tennessee (2021)"But for years (since their 2020 disappearance), no new evidence has emerged in the case. That all changed in November when YouTuber Jeremy Beau Sides made a grim discovery, a 1998 Pontiac Pontiac Grand Am sitting at the bottom of Calfkiller River in Sparta, cops said."
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-​Stephanie Hollingsworth in Florida (2020)
"The body pulled from a car in a Florida pond has been identified as the missing mom who vanished while doing errands, authorities said."