TAMPA, Fla. — A volunteer search-and-recovery group called Sunshine State Sonar made an interesting discovery in Lake Tarpon Canal on a Friday night.
While searching for a missing woman named Brenda Starr, they stumbled upon a submerged vehicle from the 1970s, located 15 feet deep in the canal.
Upon investigation, the team identified the vehicle as an early 1970s Chevy Vega, as certain parts had been removed. Using an application called NamUs, they cross-referenced the vehicle’s history and found that it matched the description of a car belonging to 17-year-old twin sisters named Peggy and Patty McDaniel, who were last seen in 1979 in a Chevrolet Vega.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children confirmed that the twins went missing in the area of Pompano Beach on September 15, 1979.
If alive today, they would be 61 years old. Notably, an associate of the sisters was found dead in the trunk of a car four days after their disappearance.
Despite uncovering the vehicle’s identity, Sunshine State Sonar emphasized that they couldn’t make any definitive connections to the twins’ disappearance at this stage. Furthermore, they couldn’t determine if there were any human remains at the site.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office was informed about the submerged vehicle by two members of the Sunshine State Sonar search team. The investigation is ongoing, and a dive team will be dispatched later to assess the vehicle further.
Sunshine State Sonar’s efforts have previously contributed to resolving a long-standing missing person case. In April, they assisted in locating a vehicle and human remains linked to the disappearance of Robert Helphrey in 2006. The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed the identity of the remains as belonging to Helphrey.
