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How police recovered William Moldt’s car from a Florida pond in 2019
In 2019, a former resident of a Florida neighbourhood found what appeared to be a car in a pond during a Google search and alerted a current resident, who confirmed it with a drone and called police. Police recovered the remains of William Moldt, missing for 22 years. Moldt, who was 40 when he disappeared, had called his girlfriend at about 21:30 on the night he went missing and said he would be home soon. He left a club at around 23:00 and drove away alone. On the night of his disappearance, Moldt left the club at about 23:00 local time, according to a report by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System cited by the BBC. On 28 August 2019, police were called to reports of a car in a pond in Moon Bay Circle, Wellington.
A drone confirmed the vehicle, and police recovered Moldt’s remains from inside it. The BBC reported that the vehicle was recovered from the water and skeletal remains were found inside.
Mr Moldt’s sunken car was spotted by a previous resident of the area after “doing a Google search”, police said. The man then contacted a current resident of Moon Bay Circle and told him what he had seen. The sheriff’s office said that a shift in the water had made the car visible. Police spokeswoman Therese Barbera said: “You can’t determine what happened that many years ago, what transpired. She also said: “All we know is that he went missing off the face of the Earth, and now he’s been discovered.”
More than two decades later, a former resident spotted what appeared to be a car in the pond while viewing Google Earth imagery. The current resident used his personal drone to confirm that there was a car in the pond before contacting police. He left alone in his vehicle and did not appear intoxicated. The report described him as a quiet man who did not socialise much. One week later, the remains were positively identified as belonging to Moldt.
At about 21:30, he had called his girlfriend and told her he would be home soon. Police launched a missing-person investigation, but the case went cold.
The report also said Moldt was not a frequent drinker but had several drinks at the bar. He was never seen or heard from again.