Missing Coconut Creek Man's Car Found Years Later Behind Home
COCONUT CREEK (CBSMiami) -- The daughters of a missing man had scoured South Florida for years looking for him. Now those looking for him said his car was found in a Coconut Creek canal right behind where he used to live.
The sisters rushed to a waterway behind where their father used to live to watch a crane lift their father's green Ford Thunderbird from the canal, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Their father, William Naylor, 69, was last seen in February of 2005.
As a crane lifted the car out of the canal near the 4900 block of West Copans Road,his daughter Jeanie Naylor kept repeating, "This is not real," according to the paper.
Relatives told the paper officers said it was Naylor's car. Coconut creek police said this is an ongoing investigation and could not confirm that Naylor's car was found or whether remains were found inside.
Naylor was a retired Broward County environmental engineer who suffered from Parkinson's disease and was taking medication which would make him hallucinate, according to the paper.
The day Naylor disappeared, his daughters had asked him to consider moving into an assisted-living facility since they were concerned for his health. Naylor was angered, according to the paper, causing him to drive off.
The family searched for him for five years before formally filing for their father's death certificate.
His picture was seen on a series of posters. The group Missing Children International Ministries was part of the search and said it lead police to the canal.
Dinorah Perry of Missing Children International Ministries told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "It's never a total closure but it's a taste of it and I feel very, very good about it."
Perry said she is gratified that the search efforts have apparently paid off.
"I feel good that we found the vehicle. Now the healing can start for the family. There will be a little taste of closure for the family because they waited a long time," said Perry. "It shows you can never give up. That's right you have to keep going. You can never stop, never refuse, just keeping going. I have families missing 40 years and you can never give up."
Perry said this story is all about the power of persistence.
