Identified! KS - Lake Shawnee, Human remains in submerged car, Jun'11 - Leonard Jordan

[JDuMo]

http://www.ksnt.com/news/local/story/Human-remains-found-in-Lake-Shawnee/auhLxn8gl06Jylg5Y74jeA.cspx

Shawnee Heights fire, Shawnee County Park Police and Deputies with the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office are still on the scene investigating. Detectives along with a coroner are sifting through the car lifted out of the lake near the Shawnee Yacht club around 1 P.M. Deputies say the car appears to have been submerged for an extended amount of time, and contains the remains of at least one human adult.
<modsnip article>

 

[JDuMo]

Another article: http://cjonline.com/news/2011-06-11/body-found-car-pulled-lake-shawnee#.TfU3x1uU1XY

A vehicle containing the remains of at least one person was pulled Saturday from Lake Shawnee, where it appeared the car had been submerged for an extended period of time, authorities said.

Shawnee County sheriff's Lt. Phil Higdon said Shawnee County coroners had been able to verify at least one set of adult human remains as of 7:30 p.m. The person's gender couldn't immediately be determined, he said.

The case, Higdon said, was being investigated as "suspicious in nature."

Described as an older model Oldsmobile, the vehicle emerged from the murky depths of the lake about 1 p.m. Crews began going through the vehicle, Higdon said, and discovered what appeared to be human remains.

<Mod Snip article>

 

[wfgodot]

Map of Lake Shawnee (Vehicle found near Yacht Club)

 

[CarlK90245]

I see only two persons listed missing from Shawnee KS. One is a 5-year old child (Jackie Dene Hay).

The other is Tabitha Diane Brewer
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/b/brewer_tabitha.html

She looks pretty doubtful though. I don't see, given the circumstances of her disappearance, how she would end up in a lake in a car with Wisconsin plates.

 

[TripleA]

I am going a different path and looking for the missing Oldsmobile:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95094&highlight=Oldsmobile

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44530&highlight=Oldsmobile

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80329&highlight=Oldsmobile

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63682&highlight=Oldsmobile

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61569&highlight=Oldsmobile

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54531&highlight=Oldsmobile

 

[TripleA]

One more that may have had Wisconsin plates:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33735&highlight=Oldsmobile

 

[norest4thewicked]

So sad....I used to live there. I imagine that the vehicle held a person from Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

 

[raeann]

So sad....I used to live there. I imagine that the vehicle held a person from Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

I also used to live there just a few miles away, and had a co-worker who lived at this lake area, so I have been there many times. While the area is not difficult to reach from I 70 which is a major east/west traffic route, it is not an area that one would just happen upon either. As you can tell from the map there is a roadway that encircles the lake, but a limited number of access points to and from that road. Most of the homes were somewhat upscale back in the 80's when I lived in the area. Many new home sites were being built in the area at that time, so a large number of construction workers and delivery people would have been in and out of the area besides just residents and guests.

jmo

 

[TripleA]

So sad....I used to live there. I imagine that the vehicle held a person from Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

I was actually considering that there may be stolen plates on the vehicle, so I didn't want to rule anyone out based on the plate alone.

 

[norest4thewicked]

Yes...anything is possible.

 

[Slynderella]

possible Wisconson Plates.... here is the link.. just fyi...

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-06-11/body-found-car-pulled-lake-shawnee

A vehicle containing the remains of at least one person was pulled Saturday from Lake Shawnee, where it appeared the car had been submerged for an extended period of time, authorities said.

Shawnee County sheriff's Lt. Phil Higdon said Shawnee County coroners had been able to verify at least one set of adult human remains as of 7:30 p.m. The person's gender couldn't immediately be determined, he said.

<modsnip>

Described as an older model Oldsmobile, the vehicle emerged from the murky depths of the lake about 1 p.m. <modsnip>

"It's pretty difficult because there's so much mud and silt that's in the vehicle," Higdon said.

<modsnip>

The car had been discovered a few months ago by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. <modsnip>

The car was pulled from the lake near an area where a paved road leads from the Shawnee Yacht Club parking lot to the edge of the lake.

 

[little726]

Here are two more missing persons from Wisconsin:

http://www.nampn.org/cases/krnak_donna.html

http://www.nampn.org/cases/krnak_thomas.html

 

[norest4thewicked]

Here are two more missing persons from Wisconsin:

http://www.nampn.org/cases/krnak_donna.html

http://www.nampn.org/cases/krnak_thomas.html

If you read the narratives on their cases, they don't match this scenario.

 

[tatertot]

The article JDuMo linked to has a photo of the car, and although the vehicle is in bad shape and the view of it is obscured by the police tape, there's a section of the grille sitting below the bumper. A few Oldsmobile models that appear to have this type of grille are certain generations of the 98, the Cutlass Supreme and the Vista Cruiser.

 

[Carolyn H.]

Although the paint is missing from portions of the car, from the news video, the car appears to be white or light gray or perhaps silver, 4 doors.

 

[CarlK90245]

The article JDuMo linked to has a photo of the car, and although the vehicle is in bad shape and the view of it is obscured by the police tape, there's a section of the grille sitting below the bumper. A few Oldsmobile models that appear to have this type of grille are certain generations of the 98, the Cutlass Supreme and the Vista Cruiser.

I think the car is much older than that. It looks to me like a mid-70's model.

This 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass S-442 is the only model that I can find with a remotely similar rear-side window.

It may not be this exact model, but it is close. The wheel wells are shaped the same as well.

 

[cocomod]

Good sleuthing!

Looking through this list, the following do not fit for the following reasons:

I am going a different path and looking for the missing Oldsmobile:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95094&highlight=Oldsmobile
This one states that she was driving a 1991 Olds 98. This is a 4-door car, and the picture of the car coming out of the river is a 2-door.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44530&highlight=Oldsmobile
This one looks doubtful based on the circumstances of her disappearance. She is also from Wyoming and had Wyoming plates. Although the plates could have been switched, no color given for car. Model of vehicle seems right.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80329&highlight=Oldsmobile
This one is a possibility, although unlikely given the color - Brown Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera can be 2 or 4 door. The location is approximately 10 hours difference.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63682&highlight=Oldsmobile
Green Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (can be 2 or 4 door), he was from Washington - not likely given the color of the car and the distance


http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61569&highlight=Oldsmobile
1997 green Oldsmobile Bravada - Bravada is SUV, and the color is not right

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54531&highlight=Oldsmobile
This one does not have a model. The location is also 10 hours away

 

[wfgodot]

Car in lake last registered 27 years ago (Topeka Capital-Journal)

The car submerged in Lake Shawnee last was registered in 1984, meaning it could have been underwater as long as 27 years before it was pulled from the lake Saturday, a Shawnee County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Monday.

Investigators from the sheriff's office, Shawnee County Coroner's Office and Kansas Highway Patrol continue to investigate the remains of at least one person found in the vehicle, as well as the car itself, to try to learn the circumstances of the death and how the car got in the lake, Lt. Jay Simecka said.
---

more at Capital-Journal link above

 

[CarlK90245]

Car in lake last registered 27 years ago (Topeka Capital-Journal)

more at Capital-Journal link above

They described the car as a mid-70's Oldsmobile 98 Regency, possibly 1974.

Here's a 1975 Oldsmobile 98 Regency

 

[CarlK90245]

This is a long-shot, but I'm wondering if this might be either Paula Godfrey or Lisa Stasi.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/godfrey_paula.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/stasi_lisa.html


Paula and Lisa were last seen in the state of Kansas and dissappeared in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Their killer, John Edward Robinson, had connections to the Chicago area and gave Lisa's daughter to his brother in Chicago. Since Chicago is adjacent to the state of Wisconsin, that might be the Wisconsin connection. Perhaps he obtained the car there, and brought it down to Kansas City.

ETA: Perhaps it's both. There is supposedly another car that they have not yet pulled out of the lake.