'Why did it take so long?':Stolen car's owner reacts to sedan being found in Wisconsin River
WISCONSIN DELLS (WKOW) - The owner of a car stolen in 2014 from his Wisconsin Dells home is amazed the sedan was pulled out of Crandall's Bay in the Wisconsin Fritz Deering, the owner of a stolen Dodge Avenger from his Wisconsin Dells home, has expressed surprise that the car was found ten years after it was stolen. Deering accidentally left the car unlocked in his driveway with the keys inside and discovered it missing the next day. He believes the thief either abandoned the car in the woods or it was disassembled. Police Chief Nicholas Brinker said there was enough evidence to charge the suspect with the theft but the statute of limitations on the theft likely rules out any prosecution. Deered said he received an insurance settlement on the car long ago and now locks up his current cars.
Published : a month ago by Tony Galli in Auto General
WISCONSIN DELLS (WKOW) - The owner of a car stolen in 2014 from his Wisconsin Dells home is amazed the sedan was pulled out of Crandall's Bay in the Wisconsin River nearly ten years after the theft.
Fritz Deering told 27 News he never thought he would see the four-door, Dodge Avenger again.
"Nope. No way," Deering said. "We never expected to see it. Farthest thing from our mind."
Deering said in November 2014, he mistakenly left the car unlocked in his driveway with the keys inside and discovered it missing the next morning.
"Kind of felt really bad about it because it was wife's car (and) it was my fault," Deering told 27 News.
Deering believed the thief abandoned the car in the area's woods or it was disassembled.
"Probably took to Milwaukee some place and got chopped up into parts," Deering said.
Wisconsin Dells Police Chief Nicholas Brinker said there was a suspect as a result of other thefts from cars in the same neighborhood. But Brinker said there was not enough evidence to convince a prosecutor to charge the suspect with the car's theft.
Authorities said a fisherman's sonar detected the car last week in eight feet of water and sixty-five feet from a boat launch.
Mike Sleben of Platt's Garage said it was difficult to pull the object from the murky waters of what is a popular boating location in the spring and summer.
"And then it came up and sure enough, it was a four-door car," Sleben said. "It was unbelievable."
Deering wonders how his car could have gone unnoticed for nearly ten years.
"Why did it take so long?" Deering asked. "It wasn't that far from the boat launch."
Among the items still in the mud-filled car were jumper cables, a bagged lawn chair and a microwave oven.
Brinker said the statute of limitations on the car theft crime likely rules out any prosecution, even with the discovery of this evidence.
Deering told 27 News he received an insurance settlement on the car long ago.
The experience from a decade ago has changed Deering's routine with his current cars.
"Lock them up all the time," Deering said.
Topics: Crime