Two cold cases decades old might receive some closure after two cars holding the remains of six bodies were found submerged in an Oklahoma lake last week and brought up Tuesday.
Testing out new sonar equipment on Foss Lake, which is a little more than 100 miles from Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol discovered a car, according to the Elk City Daily News.
“In 1973, I worked for Beckham and Custer County as a state trooper, and I heard rumors that sometime in the early 60s there were two or three people in a car, and they were last seen in Canute,” Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples told the newspaper after contacting it Tuesday to solicit help from the community to potentially identify the remains. “They were headed for Foss Lake and never seen again.”
Cars Pulled Up From Oklahoma Lake Containing Six Bodies Thought to Relate to Cold Cases
Two cars potentially relating to two different cases were pulled from Foss Lake in Oklahoma Tuesday. The remains from six bodies were found. (Photo via Elk City Daily News/Facebook)
But then another vehicle was found. Here’s more from the Daily News about its potential association with another cold case:
This car, a 1969 Chevy Camaro, matches the description of a car driven by Jimmy Allen Williams of Sayre, who was 16 when he disappeared with Thomas Michael Rios and Leah Gail Johnson on Nov. 20, 1970.
A case file on The Doe Network, which catalogues missing persons, indicated that Williams, Rios and Johnson were riding around Sayre in Williams’s Camaro. Williams was supposed to be going to a football game in Elk City.
“The three kids never returned home, and have not been located since” the case file stated. “Also the 1969 Camaro has never been located.”
The cars were found near a site where the highway patrol was taking pictures for a military-grade tarmac at the boat ramp. The cars were resting in only 12 feet of water next to each other.
foss lake cars
An agent photographs a shoe that came up with one of the cars. (Photo: Elk City Daily News/Facebook)
As of Tuesday afternoon, Peoples said although the department was “a long way from saying it’s solved,” they are “a little more comfortable” with the identities of the teens found in the Camaro. The identities of victims in the other was said to have some leads as well, according to the Daily News.
The names of confirmed victims will only be released after families are notified.
“We’re hoping these individuals, that this is going to bring some sort of closure to some families out there who have been waiting to hear about missing people,” Betsy Randolph, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said according to the Associated Press. “If that’s the case, then we’re thrilled we were able to bring some sort of closure to those families.”