A team of divers searching for a woman and her young daughter who disappeared in 1974 found their car and likely human remains in a Florida Canalauthorities said this week. And in an unexpected twist, divers announced that during the search they also found the missing vehicle and likely the remains of a World War II veteran who went missing 20 years ago.

On Nov. 12, 1974, a 35-year-old woman and her 3-year-old daughter were reported missing from their home, Plantation police said in a news release Tuesday. Authorities did not identify the missing woman and child, but the information matches a missing persons report for Doris Wurst and her daughter Caren, and the dive team confirmed their names when they announced news of their search.

Plantation police said Sunshine State Sonar, an organization that conducts volunteer searches for missing persons in South Florida, began searching for the missing mother and child in June 2023. On Saturday, the sonar team discovered a 1960 Chevrolet Impala in a local canal, and “skeletal remains consistent with an adult and a small child were found” inside the vehicle.

Sunshine State Sonar released a video of the search operation as well as footage of the car being recovered from the water.

Police said “next of kin have been contacted to inquire about the possible location of their loved ones’ remains” and that their identities would be confirmed through DNA testing.

While searching for Doris and Caren Wurst, the dive team said they used their sonar to locate another vehicle about 22 feet deep in the same canal. With the assistance of Plantation police officers, the divers were able to locate the license plate, which matched a missing person case from 2004.

“To our knowledge, this was not a missing person case,” the group said.

Sunshine State Sonar said divers with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there were human remains in the vehicle. It turned out to be a silver Buick LeSabre belonging to Bernie Novick. Authorities said Novick, an 83-year-old World War II veteran, disappeared from his Lauderdale West home 20 years ago, WPLG reported.

“Twenty years ago, we were in Florida at this time looking for the car,” his son Joey Novick told WPLG. “About five years later, we had a memorial service and I really put it all behind me, but I always imagined that’s how it happened.”

Sunshine State Sonar works with law enforcement in Florida and says its mission is to use high-tech equipment to “locate missing persons as well as vehicles or vessels suspected to be in waterways.”