A medical technician and search and recovery hobbyist used a homemade sonar device to find an underwater car containing a man who had been missing since 2015, local media reported Tuesday.
While searching the Myrtle Beach area of North Carolina’s Grand Strand, Jason Sufrada’s sonar scanner on his boogie board spotted a Dodge Nitro loaded with human remains. WPDE Reported.
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgetown County Coroner’s Office reportedly identified the body as that of Daniel Riggs, who was last seen on Nov. 9, 2015. Sufrada also reportedly received help from a friend, diver Adam Brown, who leads a non-profit search and rescue team of the same name.
According to the media, the recovered Dodge was a stolen vehicle.
Sufrada reportedly told WPDE he had been researching Riggs’ cold case prior to the search. Sufrada and Brown reportedly found more than 20 vehicles, with the vehicle containing Riggs’ body being the third. (RELATED: Authorities believe body of missing college student found in dangerous location)
“Adam jumped in and got the license plate number and we contacted the police,” Soufradha explained.
Sufrada, who works as an X-ray technician at Conway Medical Center in northeastern South Carolina, learned about the sonar search on YouTube, Facebook and WPDE. ReportedHe then built a relatively inexpensive sonar device and began to use it for underwater search and recovery.
“It’s basically a boogie board, a Pelican case, a sonar unit and a remote control set for the thrusters to move the device,” Soufradda told the outlet.
The DIY device helped Soufradda find a vehicle that had been missing since 1982. According to Sufrada reportedly discovered the remains of a wrecked 1975 Camaro lying at the bottom of Jack’s Creek in North Carolina in late 2023. In February, authorities reportedly found the remains and three femurs, belonging to David McMicken, 24, Michael Norman, 32, and William Clifton, 30.
The discovery of the Dodge with Riggs’ body inside brings the number of families with cold cases that Sufrada has helped to four, according to the outlet.
“We’re not charging the families anything,” Soufradda told WPDE, saying he wanted to help in areas police search boats can’t reach.
Sfrada reportedly advised families to “keep searching and keep making news about your missing loved ones” as it would help private search teams like his and Brown’s.
