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Foss Lake: Bodies Found In Submerged Cars

Foss Lake: Bodies Found In Submerged Cars

The skeletal remains of at least six people have been discovered inside two cars found at the bottom of a lake in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the cars had been found in Foss Lake, near Elk City, during a training session with a new sonar device.

The first was an early 1950s model Chevrolet car that had three bodies inside.

It was initially believed to include a couple who were last seen in Canute in the 1960s and were reportedly on their way to Foss Lake - but were never seen again.

But it was later suggested the car belonged to Alvi Porter, who went missing 44 years ago when he was 69 years old.

The second car pulled from the lake had three bodies inside, believed to be teenagers reported missing from the Sayre area in 1970.

They could be that of 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams, 18-year-old Leah Gail Johnson and 18-year-old Thomas Michael Rios.

The teenagers were reported missing on November 27, 1970, and were last seen riding around Sayre in Jimmy Williams' 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples told KWEY radio: "It's just been under water for 40 years. It's a mucky mess."

Authorities have not formally identified the bodies.

Debbie McManamman was 13 years old when her grandfather Alvi Porter went missing.

"I remember that green car," she said.

"It's sad. I can see his tall, lanky body walking up to the car. He always had a smile on his face.

"It's been very traumatic. I can remember my dad having dreams at night and getting in the car as soon as he finished his day job, taking my mom, and they would look and look and look."

It is thought the car belonged to Mr Porter, prompting new questions as to the identity of the other two bodies.

Mrs McManamman added: "There's a lot of mystery, it's a mystery."

Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the vehicles were located by dive teams last week.

"So they went back and did a scheduled dive today and were going to recover the cars," she said.

"When they pulled the cars out of the water, the first one that came out they found bones in the car.

"We thought it was just going to be stolen vehicles and that's not what it turned out to be, obviously."