Human remains believed to belong to woman missing since 1985 found in car in Miami canal

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Volunteer divers have found the car belonging to a Miami woman who has been missing for nearly 40 years. The discovery was made on Friday Jan. 5.

Maureen Therese Sherman left her home on May 1, 1985, saying she intended to end her life by driving her vehicle into a nearby canal. She was 47 years old at the time, and neither her nor her red Plymouth Reliant K Station wagon were ever seen again, according to a Miami-Dade Police Department missing person flyer.

MDPD spokesperson Luis Sierra said her car was found with a body inside by Sunshine State Sonar dive team. They called it in and officials took over in pulling the car and the human remains, according to Sierra.

The body has not yet been confirmed to belong to Sherman, Sierra said, but Sunshine State Sonar believes it does.

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In a Facebook post about the discovery, Sunshine State Sonar said it teamed up with Adventures with Purpose, another volunteer dive organization looking for missing persons.

They said they found the car on Friday afternoon, submerged in 32 feet of water in a canal near her home. It was engulfed by vegetation and branches, but all the windows were closed and the vehicle was sealed, the according to Sunshine State Sonar.

"Maureen Therese Sherman has been brought home to her family," the post reads, noting she was survived by four children. "Shout out to our incredible team members that have been working tirelessly on this mission. We were able to bring five people home in just the last six days. We are extremely proud of everyone in the field and behind-the-scenes."

A photo from the scene shows just a small scrap of her license plate remained.

The duo of divers found a car containing the remains of three unidentified people in a mall pond later that weekend. On Dec. 30, 2023, Sunshine State Sonar also located a woman in a retention pond off the highway near Disney, believed to be belong to Sandra Lemire who went missing with her car in 2012.