Toni Anderson’s car was taken out of the Missouri River close to Parkville Friday evening, almost eight weeks following the disappearance 20-year-old. Many are doubting why it took so long to discover the Kansas City woman’s vehicle, even after KCPD verified they had already investigated the area.
Dennis Watters and his wife Tammy are the husband-wife team that found Anderson’s car. They operate a non-profit which investigates for the missing and contacted Brian Anderson, Toni’s father, when they figured the case was going cold.
Having understood Anderson’s phone was last pinged close to the Parkville area before she faded, they started investigating retention ponds in the place Wednesday afternoon. However it was their first sweep of the Missouri River close to the Platte Landing Park from 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. when they came across what would ultimately be discovered as Anderson’s 2014 black Ford Focus.
“Even when we discovered it was still really hard to see,” said Dennis Watters.
Watters informed 41 Action News he isn’t amazed that other agencies weren’t capable to find Anderson’s vehicle. He said knowing many factors, such as the murkiness of the water, the car would have been easily to missed.
“I’m gonna say about half to two-thirds of the vehicle was already under sand,” stated Watters. “We could observe that the sand was already up over the front bumper and encroaching on the hood.”
The co-owner of Team Watters Sonar stated a range of factors resulted in the finding of Anderson’s car.
“When it’s brand new and it’s all slick and smooth, the noise will hit that vehicle and instead of returning and showing me a perfect vehicle, it will often just give me a strange looking flash,” stated Watters.
KCPD informed 41 Action News they must be able to verify the identity of the female body discovered in Anderson’s car early this upcoming week. They also informed they still don’t suspect foul play and that the black SUV also discovered in the Missouri River near the Anderson’s car has no ties to any probe they are working on.
Team Watters Sonar is a non-profit that operates solely on donations.
