Identified! MI - Buena Vista Twp., Skeletal in 1970s Car in Pond near I-75, Aug'17 Julius Colwye

[Gardener1850]

It was in the fall of 1984 when Marcel Colwye last saw his grandfather. He was reported missing on Oct. 3 of that year. Colwye was 6.

Julius "Pete" Colwye, 62, was last seen in the 2000 block of Lapeer on Oct. 1, 1984, by a friend, according to articles from The Saginaw News archives from Jan. 16, 1985.

"They found some personal belongings in the vehicle," Colwye said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2017/08/family_claims_remains_in_subme.html

Thanks JerseyGirl. The link is a really nice write-up about Pete. I hope they figure out what happened to him. This pond does not look like it could be accidentally driven into today but who knows what it was like back then.

RIP Pete :rose:

 

[bflocket]

This pond does not look like it could be accidentally driven into today but who knows what it was like back then.

I-75 should've been the same there as it is today back in 1984. The only part of the road that wasn't yet finished back then was in Florida, on the opposite end of the road.

The snip of the old story about him mentions foul play was a possibility at the time of his disappearance. That may very well be the case. It doesn't look like it would be very easy to drive off the side of the Interstate and wind up that pond. Nor does it seem likely that someone would go down the frontage "road" by the pond on accident, and definitely not on purpose.

I don't know if they'd be able to find out who the killer was (if there was indeed foul play involved) but at least his loved ones have found him after so long. If they didn't have any suspects back then, it was likely a random killing. That is if someone else even killed him.

 

[rats]

I'm so glad he was identified so swiftly after being found. Rest in Peace.

 

[Ozoner]

Yeah. How many other people are out there not reported? Ridiculous.. I wonder why James "Jimmy" Riddle Hoffa is not listed in NamUs database? Well, at least I couldn't find him.

Only a small fraction of missing people are in the NAMUS database, especially when you're talking about thirty-year-old cases.

 

[Gardener1850]

The 20-foot-deep pond was created during the construction of the nearby Zilwaukee Bridge, which took place between 1979 and 1988, and is the property of the Michigan Department of Transportation. Police said forensic tests performed on the skeleton and teeth give them a “high probability” of a match, but the cause of death has not yet been determined and there is no indication how or exactly the car ended up in the pond. The investigation is ongoing and Colwye’s death is being treated as a suspicious.

A contemporary report on the disappearance from the Saginaw News said that a multi-state search was conducted for 62-year-old retired General Motors employee, who was last seen about an hour away from the pond in Lapeer, Michigan. After he went missing, Colwye’s bank account was untouched and “his retirement checks kept piling up,” according to the detective, who added that foul play was suspected.

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2017/08...ar-identified-as-man-missing-since-1980s.html

 

[Ozoner]

“It just happened to be the same time a builder left town owing some money to Wickes Lumber Company, at the same time, Pete had talked to me in the barber shop and he told me he had an appointment to go meet with this guy,” [neighbor Robert Porter] said.
http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Body-found-in-car-submerged-in-pond-near-I-75-440581633.html
It sounds like they have one pretty good lead, but it's anyone's guess whether they'll be able to locate that builder (if he's even still alive).

 

[Gardener1850]

A key piece of evidence included in the original 1984 missing person file helped identify him.

"What you do at the front end of a case investigation can really be valuable, just like today," Klecker said. "We look at, and we rely on, the original work that a detective did, and we're grateful for the work that detective did."
Nearly 33 years ago, a detective added Colwye's dental records to his file, just in case.
While investigators can't say the remains are positively those of Colwye's, the dental records, which do not include x-rays, are consistent with those of the remains. The Buick Electra also was Colwye's.

http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Body-found-in-car-submerged-in-pond-near-I-75-440581633.html

 

[Gardener1850]

Back in the day, detectives searched several places for Colwye.

"They did drag the river," Klecker said.

Klecker is now trying to track down aerial photos of the land from the '80s.

"Vehicle was found in that pond in, you know, a certain position. We're just trying to figure out from a logistics standpoint, how did it end up in that position," he said.

Klecker also wants to talk to people who knew Colwye before he disappeared, so he can finish what the other detectives started.
"They did everything they could, they exhausted their efforts and at a certain point the case goes cold, and then you still don't have any discoveries, then it's a mystery," Klecker said.

http://www.abc12.com/content/news/Body-found-in-car-submerged-in-pond-near-I-75-440581633.html

BBM. This is interesting. What position could the car have been in? Was it standing upright? flipped upside down? I wonder if there is evidence a crane could have dropped the car in the pond, since there was a bridge being built around the time the pond was made. :thinking:

 

[Jgrabko]

I've always felt that a great investment could be made if someone developed a cheap scanner.

A low-scale model of the devices used in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It wouldn't need to be as sensitive or hi-tech. Something that could ID the form of a car or vehicle. There's so many rivers out there that could use mapping regardless, and it would be great to have something for smaller ponds and such.

I've often considered rigging some sort of electromagnet to a boat.

 

[ZaZara]

I've always felt that a great investment could be made if someone developed a cheap scanner.

A low-scale model of the devices used in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It wouldn't need to be as sensitive or hi-tech. Something that could ID the form of a car or vehicle. There's so many rivers out there that could use mapping regardless, and it would be great to have something for smaller ponds and such.

I've often considered rigging some sort of electromagnet to a boat.

These scanners exist and are being used by SAR-teams on waterways. Fishermen even have their own fish finders.

https://youtu.be/yNucS1bniIw

 

[carbuff]

A guy who fishes on the itty-bitty lake where we go canoeing has one of those.

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