2 cars containing 6bodies that sank a decade apart are found in a lake after 40 years

They had lain undiscovered under an Oklahoma lake for fifty years. And now the discovery of two rusting vintage cars containing five bodies has reignited the mystery of how three teenagers and one man and his friends vanished more than four decades ago. One of the cases is believed to be connected to the disappearance of Jimmy Allen Williams (top right), Thomas Michael Rios, (top left), and Leah Gail Johnson, (bottom right), all went missing after going for a drive in Jimmy's blue 1969 Camaro on November 20, 1970.

Dive teams were at Foss Lake conducting training with sonar when they came upon the vehicles last week. They went back and did a scheduled dive yesterday and when they pulled the cars out of the water, they found human bones.


The discovery of two rusting vintage cars containing six bodies has reignited the mystery of how three teenagers and three other people vanished more than four decades ago.

Highway patrol officers testing their sonar equipment Foss Lake near Elk City, Oklahoma on Friday stumbled upon the rusting 1969 Camaro and a Chevrolet dating back to the 1950s.

Inside the Camaro were three bodies believed to be of local teenagers who vanished after going out for a drive in 1970. Inside the Chevrolet were three more bodies – thought to be a 69-year-old man and his two friends who went missing in the state in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Police say the Camaro matches the vehicle associated with the three missing teenagers who disappeared on November 10 1970. They say they have confirmed the identity of at least one of the victims however details are yet to be released.

Authorities have not formally identified all of the remains belong to but the local paper has made a clear connection between the discovered Camaro and the teens.

Jimmy Williams poses next to his then brand-new Camaro as a 16-year old in 1970

The latest reports by local station KFOR states that one of the victims in the car thought to have belonged to the teenager has been identified but they are waiting to notify all of the relatives of the victims involved before releasing any names.

Jimmy Allen Williams 16, Thomas Michael Rios, 18, and Leah Gail Johnson, 18, all went missing after going for a drive in Jimmy’s blue 1969 Camaro on November 20, 1970.


They are still listed as missing persons and were thought to have been headed to a football game in nearby Elk City but also could have detoured to go hunting at Foss Lake.
 Local woman Kim Carmichael was a friend of the Camaro's owner, 16-year-old Jimmy Williams.
She told Oklahoma's Newsnine.com: 'I just remember how devastated everybody was
'We lived in a little town ... Nothing like that ever happened in Sayre.

At the time of the disappearance, Ms Carmichael's father was the undersheriff in nearby Beckham County where the teens were last seen.  He died in 2003 never knowing what happened.
Ms Carmichael added: 'He said there was nothing ... There were no leads, no nothing. He said it was just like they vanished into thin air.'I can't imagine what [Williams'] family was going through if I could see what my dad was going through.'

Oklahoma Highway Patrol said they are hoping the discovery will offer some relief to families who may have gone decades wondering where a missing loved one was.