Submerged Car Pulled From Lake Huron
Police Seek Owner of Red '70s Wagon
By Ryan Schlehuber

Police and local residents inspect the car after it was towed to shore. Nothing was found inside that could identify its owner. Pictured are (from left) City Chief Police Tim Matelski, Officer Mark Wilk, Mayor Paul Grondin, city worker Dennis Sorenson, and Lance DeKeyser of George's Body Shop. Behind Mr. Dekeyser is City Councilman Paul Fullerton.

A late-1970s red Pontiac Catalina wagon was pulled from the bottom of Lake Huron near the U.S. Coast Guard station in St. Ignace Wednesday, April 25. It was empty, however, police are still investigating how the car got there and who the owner may be. The license plate was from 1982.

Michigan State Police divers discovered the car in 40 feet of water at the head of the Coast Guard pier during a routine training exercise March 27. They waited until ice had cleared before pulling the car out last Wednesday.

An attempt to identify the owner of the license plate yielded no answers, as the state's records are kept only 10 years. St. Ignace City Police Chief Tim Matelski said he will attempt to trace the car by its vehicle identification number.

Alate 1970s model Pontiac Catalina wagon, covered in zebra mussels, emerges from the water. Michigan State Police divers spent hours lifting the car from 40 feet of water near the St. Ignace Coast Guard station pier and towing it to the nearby public access boat ramp Wednesday, April 25. Police believe the car may have been underwater since 1982, as its license plate sticker from that year is still attached. Police are still searching for answers about who it belongs to and how it got there. Police were assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Police believe the car may have been driven or pushed off the pier, or it may have broken through the ice during winter.

There is one missing person, a woman from Marquette County, who could be linked to the car, Chief Matelski said, but he has not confirmed that she was driving a Pontiac Catalina wagon.

State Police divers used air bags to raise the car, in a process that took about three hours. It was then towed by the Coast Guard to the nearby public boat launch at Dock Three.

State Trooper and St. Ignace dive master Craig Dorenbecker, who headed the operation, said the car was found upside down.

A Michigan State Police diver begins releasing air out of the bags that kept the car afloat to allow the U.S. Coast Guard to tow it to shore. The car was lying upside down when police found it March 27 during a training session. With assistance from a local towing company, police flipped the car to its upright position before towing it out of the water.

"We wanted to get the car upright, but we also wanted to keep whatever was in there inside as we towed it in," he said. "We tried to flip it upright, but couldn't, so we towed it upside down and had two of our divers swim with the vehicle to be sure no evidence, like any bones, fell out, which nothing did."

State Police divers who worked with Mr. Dorenbecker in the operation were from Rogers City, Newberry, Manistique, and Hart.

The car was rolled over at the dock and a tow truck from George's Body Shop pulled the car out of the water.

A small crowd watched as the vehicle slowly emerged from water, covered with zebra mussels. The roof of the car was caved in and all of the windows were gone. Police noticed the key was still in the "on" position in the ignition.

Chief Matelski searched the glove box and, other than a mud guppy, found some personal belongings, such as a cigar case, a plastic car registration holder, and an ice scraper, but nothing that would identify a person.

"The whole operation went great, other than the car being upside down," said Mr. Dorenbecker.

Chief Matelski, who is now in charge of the case, said he will be contacting other police departments to find any leads that will help determine the owner of the vehicle.

"We're still working on whether it's linked to a missing person," he said.