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Members of the Detroit Police Department's Underwater Recovery Team talk between dives to recover dumped cars from the Detroit River.

Detroit dive team takes the plunge
to clean a sunken car graveyard

When divers from the Detroit Police Department Underwater Recovery Team found a stolen War Memorial statue in the water at the foot of Alter Road last spring, it was hard not to be impressed.

The team had gone into the water looking for a car some fishermen had spotted in the area; they were using its recovery as a training exercise. But when Sgt. Michael Carpenter, groping blindly along the bottom, found the outstretched hand of "The Nude," he organized a recovery that led to the War Memorial getting its $100,000 statue back home.

At the time, we asked Carpenter to let us know when they went diving for another car. After a few weeks, he called with the news they were going for more than a dozen, on Wednesday and Thursday (July 1-2).

The automotive graveyard was in the Detroit River near Fort Wayne, in a cleared parcel that had, at one time, offered both access and privacy, in front of a nice deep body of water, perfect for swallowing evidence of insurance fraud, or simply a car someone didn't think was worth paying to have hauled away.

The exercise started when a business farther upriver wanted to expand its gas dock, and did a survey of the bottom, Carpenter said. When they realized how littered it was, they called in the dive team. Carpenter showed printouts of the boat's sonar displays, which resembled fuzzy ultrasound pictures.

"You look as much for the shadows as anything," he said, pointing to two tire-shaped black spots on one—evidence of a car resting on its roof.

Two heavy-duty tow trucks stood by to help, one with a 60-ton capacity and a winch for dislodging the cars from the heavy muck of the bottom. Some had been there for years.

Recovering junked cars isn't part of the 14-member team's job, but it's useful for training, as divers learn to work and maneuver in the murky local waters. Diving the Detroit River is hardly the same as snorkeling a Caribbean reef. Visibility is limited, and divers must navigate as much by feel as sight. As they approached each wreck, they had to determine where to attach hooks and straps that would allow the car to be lifted in one piece–an axle or part of the frame is best, but some were so deeply rooted in silt that it wasn't always possible.

On Wednesday, the recovery started slowly. The first find was only part of a car, and the next was a small motorcycle. But the third try brought up a muck-covered compact of immediately indistinguishable pedigree. (It later proved to be a Toyota.) The car rotated lazily on the winch cable, shedding mud and debris, before tow truck operator Robert Marshall set it down on the ground for further inspection.

Years in the water aren't kind to a car. Besides the shroud of mud, zebra mussels clung to nearly every surface. As the water drained out, it shed a handful of aquatic creatures–crawfish of all sizes and a few salamanders. (Mud puppies, specifically.) Marshall scooped up a few and tossed them back into the water.

Once the vehicle identification number was found and recorded, the car was winched onto a flatbed tow truck and stacked elsewhere on the lot, while the team went after another. 

Not all recoveries went smoothly. A Ford EXP, strapped by its roof, fell to pieces as it rose above the water, necessitating a second dive to retrieve the rest. A 1957 Buick did the same, but once recovered, it yielded one of the day's prizes—a vintage hubcap for the team's souvenir collection.

The recovery was to continue today (July 2). And while even removing 14 cars won't make much difference in a river that likely holds scores more, the bottom will be a little cleaner and the team a little better prepared for the next time a lost statue reaches up from the bottom and asks to be taken home.

A watery car grave A Ford begins to emerge from the murk. The car's roof gave way before it could be brought ashore, necessitating a second dive.

This door seems stuck Muck and zebra mussels cloak a car as tow-truck driver Robert Marshall works to open the door. Police collected vehicle ID numbers from each.

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