Authorities have solved the mystery surrounding the discovery of a 1974 Ford LTD found submerged in the Bevier Park Pond by divers on Sept. 10, saying it was driven there after being stolen from a Waukegan municipal parking lot more than 46 years ago.
Owned by the city of Waukegan, the car was reported stolen on April 25, 1978, from a municipal parking lot at 32 North MLK Ave., south of the current site of City Hall, according to a police report filed at the time.
Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said the report was filed by then Director of Community Development and Inspection Enforcement Thomas Vick. After Vick read about the car found in the pond, Chastain said he called the police department to say he filed the original report.
“He reached out a few days ago and said the car was stolen out of the lot.,” Chastain said. “It was assigned to the city plumbing inspector. The VIN (vehicle identification number) matched, and the color matched.”
Chastain said the police investigation is complete. Even if the person who stole the car was identified, he could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has long passed.
Divers employed by the Waukegan Park District since early August spotted the sedan covered in sediment halfway to its roof as they continued to methodically remove the dregs from the pond.
During his 31 years with the department, Chastain said he has never seen a long-abandoned vehicle like this pulled from the water. The investigation showed at the time there was no evidence of anyone inside.
Quincy Bejster, the Park District’s director of parks, said he got a call from the divers on Sept. 10 and went to the park. It was not long before police and the Waukegan Fire Department arrived. They soothed his worst fears.
“The police checked the trunk and found no one there,” he said.
Bejster said the divers told him the car was fully submerged. It was not visible from the surface. About 40% done with the project scheduled for completion by the end of October, the car was northwest of the pond’s island. The divers handled the removal of the car from the water.
During the initial investigation, Chastain said the department was able to glean from a partial VIN the car was a 1974 Ford LTD. The license plates had 1978 stickers on them, so the sedan may have been in the pond since then.
While in the late 1970s the city’s public works department did not have the systems it does today, Chastain said now a car cannot go missing without warning signs sprouting quickly with modern electronic record keeping.
“Public works knows every car has to be turned in for servicing after a certain time or number of miles,” Chastain said. “If it isn’t, there would be a red flag. They’re always doing servicing.”
