Car belonging to man who mysteriously disappeared 11 years ago found in Saint-François River

A car belonging to a former Pierreville, Que., city councillor who has been missing for 11 years was found in the Saint-François River Friday.

The family of Yvon Guévin, who mysteriously disappeared in July 2014 at age 75, told Noovo Info they feel relieved and emotional as they finally get some answers.

“Life has gone on for 11 years. But I think that to really find closure, to mourn and to come to terms with it, we really hoped to find the vehicle,” said his daughter Dominique Guévin.

American and Australian divers found the vehicle more than 11 metres below the surface in the Montérégie area.

The search team, which had compiled a list of waterways near his home, took two days to find the vehicle. It’s unclear if the body is inside.

Diver William McIntosh says his team, which specializes in finding vehicles, has found 38 missing people since 2019.

According to him, most are found within a five-mile radius of their homes.

“Yvon, I thought, was the most findable person being that his age was 75 years old, he was driving a 1989 Jeep with a dog in the car and we knew he would not have gone far,” said McIntosh.

Using sonar, the divers noticed a strange square formation in the river. They then confirmed it was a vehicle using an ultrasound.

With magnets and buoys, divers went in and pulled the car out of the mud. They ran the licence plates and confirmed it belonged to Guévin.

The divers got a lead from a family friend who told them Guévin regularly drove through a loop in the road by the river.

“We were very keen on this location as soon as we came around the corner and saw the angle of the road,” said McIntosh. “This is a standard accident scenario location because ... it ends in the river and there’s a drop-off.”

Guévin’s family said it’s a funny feeling to realize their loved one was nearby all along, as they searched far and wide for years.

Quebec provincial police (SQ) were also on-site Friday and are investigating the causes and circumstances of the incident.

Desire to help families

McIntosh and his team, who are also sponsored by Adventures With Purpose, do this kind of work for free as a kind of hobby with support from donations and revenue from their YouTube channel.

They obtain cold case files from police forces and start their own search.

According to McIntosh, there are 59 people missing in the region between Rhode Island, Long Island, Pennsylvania, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, known as the Northeast Kingdom.

Next, the divers will resume the search for Mélissa Blais, a mother who disappeared in Louiseville, Que. in 2017.

McIntosh said he and his associates have found “hundreds” of cars underwater in Australia and the United States.

Using sonars and ultrasounds, “you see what’s natural to the environment, and then you see what’s human-made,” he said.

“Not knowing where their family member went is devastating to a family and we believe anything we can do to solve these cases where these vehicles are missing, we have the skillset and we have a desire to help,” said McIntosh.