Minnesota Fisherman’s ‘100% Luck’ May Have Solved a 58-Year Cold Case

In a totally unexpected turn of events, a Minnesota fisherman ended up possibly solving an almost 60-year-old cold case.

Sadly, there are cold cases that pop up every once in a while. Investigators do everything they can to solve the case and figure out what truly happened, but there's just not enough to go on. At least for the time being.

ALSO READ: 2025 Peak Fall Color Predictions Are Out for Minnesota

Nearly 60-Year-Old Minnesota Cold Case May Have Been Solved

On September 25, 1967, a 59-year-old man named Roy Benn was reported missing from Sauk Rapids, MN.

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Roy "was last seen driving his 1963 4-door metallic blue Buick Electra with MN license plate 6DU 516, also missing." They also mention that he was carrying "a large sum of money" when he was seen last.

The case eventually went cold, and Roy's family never found out what happened to him. That is, until now.

Get our free mobile app

Fisherman Finds a Car at the Bottom of the Mississippi River in Minnesota

KROC-AM reports that on Sunday, August 10th, a fisherman contacted the Stearns County Police Department, "who reported observing an 'anomaly' on his sonar finder in the Mississippi River near Sartell." He believed the anomaly was a car.

The fisherman's name is Brody Loch, and he thanks his buddy for catching a walleye for the discovery. He told WCCO that if his friend hadn't caught a walleye, they wouldn't have kept floating down the river, and they would have never found the car.

Brody said, "'It was 100% luck'".

On Wednesday, August 13th, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol went out to where the report came from on Sunday and, sure enough, the dive team found a car at the bottom of the river.

Later in the day, the car had been pulled from the river.

WJON reports that the car was filled with sediment and appeared to be a Buick from the 1960s. Also inside the car, they found several items, the car's Vehicle Identification Number, and human remains.

Based on all of those pieces of evidence, the Sheriff's Office believes the car and the remains belong to Roy Benn.

As of today, there hasn't been an official statement confirming whether or not the car was in fact Roy's or if the remains are also Roy's. The car is undergoing initial processing, and the remains are being analyzed by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office.