[Drew68]

Every few years, a car or truck with human remains is found in a canal or pond in Florida and a missing person case gets resolved.

Yep. Happens all the time in Florida. A car slides off the road during a rainy night and lands in a retention pond or canal. Nobody saw it happen and the decedent spends years, even decades, on a missing persons database. Rarely is foul play involved.

[F450-V10]

For some reason I’m fascinated by this story. South Florida has thousands of square miles of artificial canals and lakes criscossing both well and lightly traveled roads. Heavy rain could obliterate any tire tracks quickly. No one swims in these bodies of water...very dark, murky and mucky, alligator possibility, and the dark water absorbs heat, so 95° in the summer.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1997-03-02-9703010383-story.html
Story of 5 teens missing since 1979, found in submerged van in 1997.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-pompano-body-car-canal-20141119-story.html

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/fl-pn-west-boca-lowered-canal-body-found-20170914-story.html

[Rockingham]

Alcohol, fatigue, night, or poor visibility due to rain, and a lack of protective barriers and proper traffic control devices are often cited. Some of the saddest cases occur when a disoriented and frustrated traveler tries a shortcut at night by driving across a short stretch of grass -- not realizing that there is an open, unfenced canal in the way.

In addition to bodies in sunk vehicles, some are found simply floating in ponds or canals. Investigation often finds such drownings accidental or even a suicide, with homelessness and drugs or alcohol involved. There are also cases of breath-taking stupidity in which a drunk or drugged person goes for a swim at night in a lake despite knowing that gators are present.