By Steven Symes 
A dive team that was looking for a 1969 Buick 442 in the Chicago River instead found over 90s cars submerged in the depths. Those vehicles were found in just a small stretch of the river, meaning there are likely hundreds of cars, maybe even more, sunken out of sight.
This is how you survive a submerged car.
The search concentrated on the Lower West Side of Chicago, near the Richard J. Daley Boat Launch. That dive team was searching for a couple who disappeared back in 1970 as people have theorized they ended up it the river.
But a search of the murky depths from Cicero Avenue and Diversey Parkway revealed 97 vehicles hidden out of sight. While urban waterways often will have quite a few submerged cars, that’s a ridiculous amount in such a small stretch.
So far, it seems not a single one of those rides belongs to the couple the dive team was searching for. In other words, their disappearance remains a mystery.
Only one of the nearly 100 cars discovered submerged in the Chicago River has been pulled out by authorities. According to Fox 32 Chicago, a Nissan Altima was in the way of boat traffic, so that might have been why it was hoisted out.
It’s always a Nissan Altima.
From the sound of things, it doesn’t appear Chicago officials have any intentions of fishing the other submerged vehicles from the river.
Back in 1970, Edward and Stephania Andrews were in downtown Chicago attending a party. After leaving in their ’69 Buick 442, they were never seen again and the car was never recovered. Some believe Edward was drunk and ended up plunging the Buick into the Chicago River, which was why the private dive team was looking for it there.
There are many reasons why cars end up submerged in rivers and other bodies of water. One common motivation is insurance fraud. Owners drive the vehicle into the water, then report it as stolen, collecting the insurance money.
Another comes from criminals stealing cars to commit other crimes, then dumping the ride to destroy any evidence.
Image via Fox 32 Chicago/YouTube