Mystery Solved? Google Earth Reveals Submerged Car In Rochester

There's no doubt about it, Google is a behemoth when it comes to technology. Yesterday in Southern Minnesota a car was found submerged in a pond near a concrete plant, and the occupant inside was deceased, while there hasn't been anything official announced by law enforcement online speculation is that the person inside the vehicle is believed to be a missing person from 2021.**

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The real question is when did officials realize there was a car in the pond? A view from Google Earth, that shows the pond in June of 2022 does show a vehicle in the pond, but was the website view from above that tipped law enforcement, or was it a combination of the dry weather and alert employees?

MN CRIME Police/Fire/EMS on social media posted about the car find last night, when I first saw the Google Earth image and has since updated their post to include information shared by the Rochester Police Department.

ROCHESTER: Rescue crews have recovered a body from inside a submerged vehicle near the 4000 block of 19th St. NW., outside a concrete plant in northwest Rochester. The occupant was confirmed deceased inside, and an updated Google Earth image appears to show the vehicle submerged in the shallow pond.

Rochester police confirmed the incident in an initial media release and say the vehicle "looked like it had been there awhile" and that it was visible due to dry conditions and low water level. Police confirm a woman was found dead inside the vehicle.

The identity of the person has not yet been publicly released...

Rochester PD said they're working with the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office to officially identify the woman and determine her cause of death.

Here is the official post from the RPD on the discovery yesterday.

Rochester Police Department (RPD) responded to a report of a vehicle in a retention pond this afternoon. The vehicle, located in a pond by the 4000 block of 19th Street NW, looked like it had been there awhile and became visible because of the dry conditions and low water level. A deceased female was located inside the vehicle.

RPD is working with the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office to positively identify the female and determine the cause of death.

**(The social media post for MN Crime Police/Fire/EMS was edited to remove the name of the missing woman, as there hasn't been any official statement from police on the ID of the body inside the car that was found.)