The remains of a man who vanished over 20 years ago while heading to his family’s cabin have been discovered inside a car submerged in a Utah reservoir.
On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that human remains retrieved last year from a reservoir in Duchesne County have been identified as belonging to Steven Willard Anderson, 46, who was reported missing in 2004.
Identification of Anderson’s remains was carried out through DNA testing by the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner and a private laboratory. Authorities have stated that no foul play is suspected in his death, and the case has been officially closed, bringing decades of uncertainty to his family, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to CBS affiliate KUTV, Anderson departed from his home in Murray for a journey over 200 miles to his family’s cabin in Flaming Gorge, Utah. When he failed to respond to a phone call from his father, his father went to the cabin in search of him.
Anderson was said to have been driving a leased vehicle to complete some painting work, but he never made it to his destination, as per the Utah Department of Public Safety. In 2022, his daughter, Emily, expressed her belief to KUTV that her father and the vehicle may be submerged somewhere.
This previously cold case gained attention from Doug Bishop of United Search Corps, a nonprofit organization that focuses on missing person investigations, as well as Dave Sparks, a Utah entrepreneur and social media personality. The two documented their search efforts through videos on YouTube and began collaborating with law enforcement last spring.
