The Mississippi River waters looked calm that Saturday. Brody Loch cast his line from his boat, watching the ripples fold into the current. His sonar unit hummed in the background, a quiet partner in the hunt for walleye. Then the screen flashed something big and square, resting twenty feet below. This wasn’t a fish. It was a secret the river had been holding since the 1960s.

Loch later returned with his family to confirm what he saw and then called law enforcement.

When divers reached the spot near Sartell, Minnesota, they surfaced with a waterlogged Buick

The car’s VIN pointed straight to a name that once filled headlines: Roy Benn, who vanished in 1967 after leaving the King’s Supper Club in St. Cloud.

Police say human remains were inside the car. Investigators believe they belong to Benn, who was rumored at the time to have been carrying a large sum of cash. Sartell’s police chief explained that artifacts and clothing from the car may help reconstruct the case. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is now leading the investigation, CBS News shared.

Sunken cars are a recurring theme in cold cases across the U.S.

Rivers, quarries, and lakes have swallowed vehicles tied to missing persons for decades, leaving families in limbo.

Volunteer groups like Adventures With Purpose make headlines by dedicating years to sonar searches that often solve mysteries law enforcement couldn’t crack with 20th-century tools. Their efforts have helped close dozens of cases, showing how much underwater recovery can reshape old investigations.

For Benn’s family, the discovery could bring long-awaited closure. For Loch, it was a fishing trip turned helpful investigative pass.