Over a dozen vehicles pulled from the Detroit River but more expected to be found

A total of ten vehicles have been pulled from the water in an area of West Windsor, but six more have been detected, and there could be even more.

For the second day in a row, a team of divers is searching an inlet off the Detroit River in an area around Mill Street and Russell Street in Old Sandwich Town.

Port Windsor Harbour Master Peter Berry says the river clean-up is like "magnet fishing" because they're dragging a magnet along the water, and when it grabs hold of something, they stop and look to see if it's a vehicle or another type of debris or garbage.

Berry says some of the vehicles have been there for years, and while some had their license plates and vehicle identification numbers, others did not.

Of the ten vehicles already recovered, they range in age from 1987 to 2021.

Berry says this is a first for him; he's never seen this many cars collected in one area.

"I've been, several times, where it's a new dump where the car was seen or the car is floating. I've done several of those with the port authority since arriving here, but never to the extent of the number of vehicles that we're seeing," he says. "The fact that we're uncovering a lot more than we thought we would see. That's disturbing but interesting at the same time."

Berry says he expects there are even more cars in the water.

"What we're looking at is cars on top of cars of the ones we have recovered. Over time, as that car sat there, it pushed it right into the mud," he says. "So there's a real good potential that there's a lot more just below the surface of the bottom of the river that we're going to find in time."

Berry says they are working with the Windsor Police Auto Theft Unit as part of this recovery because these cars are tied to something and need to be investigated.

"Whether it's insurance fraud, we do have a vehicle where we found the keys in it and personal belongings in it. It could be stolen; they took it for a ride for a while and then dumped it in the water," he says. "We have three U.S. registered vehicles that we have to do some research on yet, so this enterprise is not finished."

The Windsor Police Auto Theft Unit is currently investigating and a police spokesperson tells AM800 News that at least two of the vehicles recovered were previously reported stolen.

 

Crews have started to pull out the latest identified vehicles from the Detroit River. #cklw @AM800CKLW pic.twitter.com/HRTTOkvwA0

— Rob Hindi (@rhindi800) October 9, 2024

Helmut Grusas came down to the scene to watch what was happening and called it "crazy."

"Well your mind runs wild. How many are stolen? What's even in them? There's a thought. I don't know; it's crazy. And how many insurance claims?," he says.

Grusas says he's up there in age and is not surprised by this.

"Pulling cars out of Detroit River is nothing new. From Amherstburg to East Windsor, they've been pulling cars out here and there. Most of them back then were stolen. They take them for the joy ride, and then when they're done, throw them in the river," he says.

The new owner of the private waterfront property has taken the initiative to clean up the site to make way for a future development.