MISSION, B.C. -- Police said Thursday they have all but concluded their investigation into the death of a Surrey school teacher -- missing for 16 years -- whose remains were found by chance earlier this week in a car at the bottom of nearby Silvermere Lake.
'It's pretty well concluded. We're just tying up some loose ends,' said an RCMP spokesman. 'The guy obviously went off the road and into the lake.'
The discovery of the skeletal remains of Gordon Victor Reynolds solved a mystery that had haunted family members since Nov. 2, 1964, when Reynolds disappeared after dropping off his girlfriend, Donna Knight, at her Mission home. He was never seen again.
Knight eventually moved back to her home province of Manitoba and later married Reynolds' younger brother Ken. The two were on their way back from California this week and had not yet been informed of the find, said Reynolds' sister Dorothy Adams.
The couple split their time between California and a farm in Killarney, Man., she said.
In a strange twist of fate, divers retrieving a truck that plunged into the lake Saturday stumbled across a 1959 Meteor in the muddy waters. An elderly couple escaped unhurt in the truck crash.
'I was looking for it (the pickup) and I saw this car right beside it,' said diver Ken McDonald. 'It dawned on me I was supposed to look for a truck and here was a car. It was all silted over.
'The only thing I could see was the color. It was blue, a blue 1959 Meteor.'
When the car was pulled out of the water, skeletal remains were found inside.
With help from rings and other identification found in the car, police later identified Reynolds as the victim.
'It's almost like fate wanted us to find that car,' said RCMP Cpl. Bob McIntosh.
Police have ruled out foul play in the incident.
