CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. – A freelance videographer and drone pilot led authorities in central Missouri to discover a submerged vehicle tied to a decade-old missing person’s case.
On Saturday afternoon, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office was called to a property in south county regarding the December 2013 disappearance of Donnie Erwin.
Erwin was last seen on the morning of Dec. 29, 2013, driving a silver Hyundai Elantra with Missouri license plate MK6-E3P.
James Hinkle, who was operating a drone in the area and has had an interest in the case for several years, approached the property owner and asked for permission to search the property owner’s pond after spotting something that looked like a submerged vehicle.
Hinkle and the property owner searched the grounds on foot and with a kayak. They found a light-colored car in the pond.
The sheriff’s office requested assistance from the Mid-County Fire Protection District Dive Team. Divers searched the pond and discovered the submerged vehicle was, in fact, Erwin’s Hyundai Elantra. Erwin, however, was not in the vehicle.
Authorities pulled the vehicle from the pond and notified Erwin’s family of the discovery.
Sgt. Scott Hines, a spokesman for the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, said the search for Erwin will continue.
Anyone with information on the disappearance or with knowledge of Erwin’s whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 573-346-2243 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 573-526-6178.
