Salt Lake City/ Crime & Emergencies
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Published on October 02, 2024
Vehicle Linked to 2004 Missing Person Steven Willard Anderson Discovered at Starvation ReservoirSource: Google Street View

A vehicle submerged for two decades in Starvation Reservoir has been recovered, along with human remains that may finally bring resolution to a cold case. According to a statement by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, the car is related to the disappearance of Steven Willard Anderson, missing since June 2004. The discovery was announced Tuesday after multiple agencies coordinated the vehicle's retrieval the previous day. ABC4 reported that this development connected the vehicle to Anderson's long-unsolved case.

A team consisting of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, United Search Corps, Duchesne County Sheriff's Office, Sparks Heavy Rescue, Atlas Towing, and the Utah Department of Natural Resources all contributed to recovering the vehicle from its resting location approximately 50 feet deep. The efforts of these groups appear to have finally unearthed a missing piece of a 20-year puzzle, though confirmation of the remains' identity is still pending. KSL described the operation as "complex," requiring "immense expertise" to locate and retrieve the evidence that had eluded discovery for years.

The case gained renewed attention when Anderson's son, Axel, recounted the last time he saw his father, which was before he was meant to journey to their family cabin to paint. "Last conversation, he came to pick me up to go to the cabin on this trip," Axel said, as detailed by FOX13, "I had forgotten I had a birthday party to go to, and I told him 'no' at the door and that was it. You never think that it's gonna be the last time you talk to somebody."