Adventures With Purpose Discusses Finding Human Remains In Darby Creek From Possible Missing Person Case
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- On Sunday, a volunteer rescue dive team described the extreme conditions they faced while pulling out the body of a man they say went missing more than 18 years ago.
"We discovered a vehicle 24 feet deep underwater down Darby Creek," Doug Bishop, of Adventures With Purpose, said.
Divers from a volunteer rescue team, Adventures With Purpose, who discovered the body of a man inside a submerged car Saturday night near the Ridley Township Marina, say the family of James Amabile believe it is their loved one who went missing more than 18 years after calling a babysitter to say he was running a few minutes late.
"We believe and the family believes that we have definitely closed this case for them," Bishop said. "Like I said, the medical examiner is going to have to do an exact identification before we can say for sure we have found Jimmy. He was known as Jimmy. His family is very extremely grateful."
Ridley Township police confirmed the license plate matches the victim's car from December 2003, which with the help of new underwater sonar technology, led divers to the location off I-95. Divers pulled the remains out Sunday, despite extreme circumstances.
"When we discovered that vehicle there was a pylon that had been drilled right through the front end of this vehicle. I had never seen anything like this completely blew my mind," Bishop said.
Adventures With Purpose helps families find missing persons for free. Their work is funded by community donations. Organizers say they have helped solve 28 cold cases so far.
Adventures With Purpose says they are also working on two more local cases, including one in Cape May and one in Philadelphia.