In 2019, a Florida resident spotted a car in a pond on Google Earth; police recovered the remains of a man missing for 22 years

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. More than two decades later, a former resident spotted what appeared to be a car in the pond while viewing Google Earth imagery. A drone confirmed the vehicle, and police recovered Moldt’s remains from inside it.How Google Earth revealed William Moldt's sunken car in 2019Mr 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 current resident used his personal drone to confirm that there was a car in the pond before contacting police.The BBC reported that a Charley Project report said the vehicle had been visible in a Google Earth satellite photograph of the area since 2007. The report said the vehicle had apparently not been noticed until 2019.How William Moldt disappeared after leaving a club in 1997On 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. He left alone in his vehicle and did not appear intoxicated. The report described him as a quiet man who did not socialise much.The report also said Moldt was not a frequent drinker but had several drinks at the bar. At about 21:30, he had called his girlfriend and told her he would be home soon. He was never seen or heard from again. Police launched a missing-person investigation, but the case went cold.How police recovered William Moldt's car from a Florida pond in 2019On 28 August 2019, police were called to reports of a car in a pond in Moon Bay Circle, Wellington. The BBC reported that the vehicle was recovered from the water and skeletal remains were found inside. One week later, the remains were positively identified as belonging to Moldt.The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office told the BBC that Moldt was presumed to have lost control of his vehicle and driven into the pond. However, the force said there had been “no evidence of that occurring” during the initial investigation into his disappearance.How a shift in water made William Moldt's sunken car visibleThe 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.”Barbera said it was a neighbour who reported the sunken car and that she was not aware of reports that Google Maps had been used. Moldt's family had been informed about the discovery of his remains.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.