Car With Man Missing For 9 Years Visible On Google Maps

A man who has been missing for 9 years has been found in a car, which was visible on Google Maps for years, submerged in a Michigan lake.

Brian Houseman who discovered the human remains was decorating a Christmas tree at the time.

“All of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Whoa, there’s a car out there,’” Houseman said. “No one could ever see it. It was murky and things moved around.” 

Wrecking crews pulled the mud-covered car from the water just before 11 a.m. and authorities discovered skeletal remains in the driver’s seat, presumed to be Davie Lee Niles.

Niles disappeared on Oct. 11, 2006. He was last seen at his regular watering hole, Jake’s Bar in Byron Township. Family members said he met a buddy there and then left suddenly, which family members said wasn’t unusual because he was dealing with discomfort caused by cancer. Niles was also dealing with depression.

In 2011, the family published an obituary.

“Davie Lee Niles, age 72, of Wyoming, passed away and only God knows the time and place,” the obituary read online.

Relatives said the discovery gives them the closure they’ve been waiting for.

“It’s good to have him home,” Hathaway said.

“I don’t know that we’re ever going to be able to determine if it’s suicide or accidental.” said Kent County Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Gates. “[It’s] pretty bizarre.”