Car linked to person missing since 2013 found in Missouri pond: "Major break"

A car linked to a man who went missing 10 years ago in central Missouri was recovered recently from a pond in the county where he was last seen, authorities said. The sheriff's office called the discovery a "major break" in the missing person case of Donald L. Erwin, who disappeared at the end of December 2013 in Camden County, which is in the Ozarks.

Erwin was last seen at around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2013, according to the bulletin describing his case. At the time, he was driving a silver 2002 Hyundai Elantra with the Missouri license plate MK6-E3P. On Saturday, a light-colored passenger car with a license plate matching Erwin's was pulled from a pond on private property in a section of the county called Camdenton, the Camden County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Investigators have determined that the vehicle is Erwin's Hyundai Elantra, and the sheriff's office said his family was notified of the development. Deputies and detectives from the sheriff's office were able to pull it from the private pond with help from a fire protection district dive team — only after it was initially spotted by a freelance videographer and drone pilot who took an interest in Erwin's disappearance and began to investigate independently.