In a remarkable turn of events, the body of a man who had been missing for over two decades was discovered thanks to Google Earth. William Moldt, who vanished without a trace in 1997, was reported missing from Lantana, Florida, after failing to return home from a night out. Despite a missing person investigation that eventually went cold, Moldt's loved ones were left without answers for years.
It wasn't until August 2019 that a former resident of Grand Isles neighborhood in Wellington, Florida, spotted something unusual in a large pond while using Google Earth to view his old home. Upon closer inspection, he noticed what appeared to be a car submerged in the water. After contacting the current homeowner, a drone was flown over the area to confirm the discovery.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office was alerted and deputies retrieved a white sedan from the pond, which had clearly been underwater for a significant period. Inside the vehicle, Moldt's skeletal remains were found, bringing closure to a long-standing mystery.
Remarkably, the car had been visible on Google Earth since 2007, as reported by the Charley Project, a database of cold cases in the US. Despite its visibility, it took 12 more years for someone to notice and report the submerged vehicle.
Authorities believe that Moldt likely lost control of his car and drove into the pond, although witnesses claimed he did not appear intoxicated when he left the nightclub on the night of his disappearance. The sheriff's office emphasized that the car was not visible when the initial investigation was conducted, attributing its discovery to a shift in the pond's waters.
This tragic incident serves as a reminder of the mysteries that can be unraveled through modern technology and chance discoveries. The closure brought to Moldt's family and friends after more than two decades is a poignant conclusion to a long-standing enigma.
