The thriller of a Lengthy Island man who vanished 15 years in the past was formally closed this week when authorities confirmed his stays have been present in a submerged automotive off Cedar Seashore.
Police confirmed Tuesday that the barnacle-covered Chrysler PT Cruiser discovered final month by divers in Mt. Sinai belonged to Robert Lengthy, who went lacking in December 2010 on the age of 62 whereas on a run to an area liquor retailer in the identical car.
Dan Pritchard and his diving companion Invoice McIntosh — who journey the world in search of lacking individuals — just lately set out to seek out Lengthy in June with the nonprofit, Exploring with a Mission.
The pair used kayaks geared up with particular side-scan sonar gadgets that helped look underwater, with McIntosh revealing they’d 4 places to verify and Cedar Seashore simply occurred to be first on the checklist.
After a number of hours looking out within the water on day one, the divers discovered what are actually confirmed to be Lengthy’s skeletal stays within the automotive — instantly calling police, who performed their very own diving search. Authorities later lifted the car out of the water with a crane after confirming the human stays, based on police.
“I reached in and grabbed a handful of bones, and brought one up to the surface,” Pritchard mentioned on the time.
On the time of his disappearance, Lengthy’s spouse Joanne mentioned that her husband had ventured to an area wine store on Route 25A, and by no means returned residence. Staff of the store recalled Lengthy coming into the shop and making a purchase order the day he went lacking, however “didn’t notice anything out of character,” based on a Newsday report from 2010.
Joanne revealed on the time that her husband had beforehand spoke of committing suicide.
“This is totally out of character for him,” she instructed the outlet over a decade in the past. “When he did drink, he would get a bottle and come home… He was wearing his house slippers and had no money, and only the clothes on his back.”
After discovering the stays contained in the matching automotive, Pritchard and McIntosh mentioned they consoled Joanne.
“It’s obviously a great relief when you identify the vehicle that you’re looking for,” Pritchard instructed native radio station 1010 WINS. “It is satisfying to know that we can give — as hard as the answers are — to the family.”
McIntosh added to that sentiment, and mentioned “when you find a person, you bring them home and you’re able to close a chapter in another person’s life, a family’s life — we give them hope.”
Each divers plan on spending the subsequent few months scouring waterways up and down the East Coast looking for sunken autos — together with a number of on Lengthy Island. They imagine the search might get well the stays of as much as 50 lacking individuals.
