No human remains found in 70s-era car located in Tarpon Canal

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A submerged vehicle from the 70s that was found in the Lake Tarpon Canal Friday night has turned up empty, according to a volunteer search-and-recovery group.

Sunshine State Sonar, a team of people dedicated to locating the remains of individuals in Florida’s waterways, said they found the submerged vehicle while searching for a missing Florida man named Brenda Starr, who went missing in 1995.

“She went missing after dropping her daughter off at the elementary school,” Sunshine State Sonar founder Mike Sullivan said.

Sullivan said they searched the Lake Tarpon Canal because it was 500 yards from Starr’s apartment.

However, instead of Starr’s 1993 Mazda Protégé, the team got a hit on the sonar from a different vehicle 15 feet deep in the canal.

“With parts removed from the vehicle, we were quickly able to determine that this vehicle is an early 1970s Chevy Vega,” Sunshine State Sonar said on its Facebook page.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the call of a submerged vehicle after it was found by two Sunshine State Sonar search team members.

PCSO dive teams combed the canal Monday morning to see if they could remove the vehicle. Sullivan said it may be difficult to get the Vega out of the water due to alligators, low visibility, and the vehicle’s condition.

“[The recon diver] said everything he touched on the vehicle literally crumbled in his hands,” Sullivan said.

A member of Sunshine State Sonar told 8 On Your Side that by using an application called NamUs, they were able to see if there were any missing people last seen with a Vega.

Initially, Sunshine State Sonar pointed out a coincidence with the 1979 disappearance of 17-year-olds Peggy and Patty McDaniel, who were last seen in 1979 in a Chevrolet Vega.

However, Sullivan said Monday that the vehicle did not seem related to that missing person’s case. After speaking with a dive team member, Sullivan learned there were also no human remains inside the vehicle.

In April, the team helped find a vehicle and human remains linked to the disappearance of Robert Helphrey. The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed that the remains belonged to Helphrey, who went missing in 2006.

Sullivan said they will continue to search for Starr’s vehicle in other bodies of water in Pinellas County over the next 12 months.

“It’s just a bummer when you find out it’s not the vehicle you were looking for,” Sullivan said. “You’re very disappointed, but you have to carry on.”