While scanning the Mississippi River with sonar, looking for missing Minneapolis man Joe Zurnieden, we found 11 cars in a 7 mile stretch of the river. Within a 60 foot radius we located 6 cars; an apparent dumping ground.

This is what the 6 cars look like on our sonar imaging. 1 car is laying partially on top of another. Keith, Dave and Jeremy loaded up dive gear with an attempt to identify the vehicles and see if any human remains were still inside or find clues as to why there was a cluster of cars in a small area. Looking at a google earth map of the area, one can see there is a parking lot directly above the long, steep embankment for people using the city trail system. This was the probable ‘launching’ area explaining a partial How the vehicles got there. As to Who or Whom and Why they are there remains to be unseen. Once we set anchor over top of the cars, the plan was for Keith to dive down into the darkness of the Mississippi waters to locate each car and describe as best he could what he was seeing. Using a full face mask with wireless communications to the surface, made the task so much more efficient and helped with safety. We were able to speak back and forth making notes on each car. Keith identified a red Firebird, white Chevy van among other details and license plate numbers. All details and license plate information has been turned over to the Hennepin County authorities.

Keith & Dave

Dave holding us in Lock #1

Lock #1 & Spillway

Video and article from Beth McDonough & Channel 5 News