Body found inside car submerged in Charlotte County pond

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. A body was found inside a car submerged in a pond Saturday off of Interstate 75 at Tuckers Grade, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.

A gold 2017 Honda Accord was removed from the pond shortly before 4 p.m., deputies said.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office dive team, major crimes unit and a crime scene unit responded to investigate.

Michael Gast, a retired police driver and active member of a group known as the Guardians for the Missing, was searching for Kelvin Close, 66, who went missing back in September on the way to an appointment near his home.

Close’s cellphone was last tracked along Tucker’s Grade where the Honda Accord was found.

“What are the chances? You’ve got a location, you’ve got a ping at a location. You check that location and there’s a car and it happens to be the same brand of car that you were looking for and then we verified it by having the tag number,” Gast said.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office have not yet confirmed the identity of the body found in the car.

The circumstances leading up to the incident remain unclear at this time. Trust WINK News to keep you updated as we receive more information.

 

At 12:41pm CCSO was notified of a vehicle found in a pond off of I-75 and Tuckers Grade. Our dive team, Major Crimes and Crime Scene have responded for the investigation.

— Charlotte County Sheriff's Office-Sheriff Prummell (@CCSOFLSheriff) November 18, 2017