A 25-year-old Florida man, Steven MacKrell, was reported missing more than 10 years ago. His disappearance recently came to an end when authorities discovered his skeletal remains inside a car, which was found in a Boca Raton pond.
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According to a statement issued by Sunshine State Sonar, a private company that provides underwater services to help find missing people in Florida, MacKrell’s remains were found on Thursday, October 2.
Reportedly, at around 7:20 p.m., the company found MacKrell’s Ford Fusion submerged in a Boca Raton pond off Interstate 95. Skeletal remains were found inside the vehicle, which were identified as Steven MacKrell, reported missing back in 2015.
“This search was a collaborative effort with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the Boca Raton Police Services Department,” the statement read. “Without the hard work and incredible efforts of both agencies, this case would not have been resolved.”
According to a statement issued by the Boca Raton Police Services Department (BRPD) and obtained by PEOPLE, Sunshine State Sonar made the discovery. The BRPD’s dive team was called shortly after to “help bring the vehicle out of the water.”
A press release issued by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, also obtained by PEOPLE, detailed that they managed to identify MacKrell by providing his dental records. Using them, the medical examiner managed to positively identify the remains.
Missing For A Decade
As per Sunshine State Sonar, Steven MacKrell was last seen on July 30, 2015. At around 1:30 a.m., he left Lucky’s Tavern in Fort Lauderdale and drove on Northwest Seventh Avenue. At 2:32 a.m., he was seen buying snacks at a Valero gas station in Pompano Beach. He was supposed to meet up with friends, but he never arrived.
In a 2019 interview with CBS News Miami, MacKrell’s mother, Astrid, detailed that surveillance video captured her son engaging in a verbal altercation with “some people in a car.” The woman detailed that, as the car was leaving, MacKrell threw a can at them, which “got them upset.”
Alisha Carr, MacKrell’s girlfriend, theorized on what might have occurred. Eerily, her theory seemed to coincide with the 2025 discovery.
“Maybe they ran him off the road and he went into a lake,” Carr said at the time. “I’m so uncertain because there’s so many different scenarios I’ve thought about.”
At the time, however, the police said they had searched “almost 200 bodies of water,” to no avail.
Authorities will continue investigating MacKrell’s disappearance and death.