Many of us enjoy passing time online, perhaps watching funny animal videos, learning new recipes, or catching up on the latest news. My own internet journeys led me to a fascinating and heartwarming niche: YouTube channels where volunteer divers solve cold cases involving missing persons.
These dedicated teams often use relatively simple tools like fish finders. Yet, they provide invaluable help to law enforcement and, most importantly, bring closure to families who have waited years for answers. While some teams might not primarily see themselves as YouTubers, the platform is often crucial. Monetization, donations, merchandise sales, and occasional reward money help fund their vital work. YouTube allows them to finance their incredible efforts to bring lost loved ones home.
Here are ten inspiring stories of missing person cases solved by these YouTube dive teams.
1 Jed Hall: Missing since 2018
Matthew “Jed” Hall, a 16-year-old from Idaho Falls, Idaho, vanished in the early hours of January 22, 2018. Jed left a note suggesting he might harm himself, but a journal also revealed plans to run away. For over four years, his disappearance was a mystery. Then, YouTubers Adventures with Purpose (AWP) arrived and solved the case in just 20 minutes.
Doug Bishop from AWP explained their method: “We determine if someone is missing and if someone is missing with a vehicle. We specialize in sonar the way that law enforcement doesn’t have the capability. Do we have a cellphone ping, a last known location? Locations that are frequented, etc. That’s how we base the waterways that we need to search.”
Using a cellphone ping as a starting point, AWP searched an area of the Snake River. Remarkably, they found Jed’s vehicle submerged in about 8 feet of water, roughly 75 yards from a boat ramp. The Idaho Falls Police Department later confirmed that human remains found in the vehicle were Jed’s.
2 Ruth Hemphill: Missing since 2005
Miriam “Ruth” Hemphill, 84, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, disappeared on July 22, 2005. This was three months after her daughter’s death, which was ruled a suicide. Ruth’s husband, Bill, told police she had left a note about their daughter and had cut out a newspaper article about someone driving into a lake.
Bill believed his wife drove her car into a local lake. Police thought this was likely, but extensive searches found nothing. The case caught the eye of Jeremy Sides from the YouTube channel “Exploring with Nug.” He said, “I pretty much just went there and just started sonaring the river until I found some cars. We started finding some cars and the third one we found was hers.” He located her vehicle in Melton Hill Lake, and human remains were discovered inside.
Sides expressed his motivation: “It feels good to be able to help someone. It’s always been in my blood to want to go beyond myself to help somebody else out.”
3 Nicholas Allen: Missing since 2020
While most law enforcement agencies welcome help from volunteer dive teams like AWP, unfortunately, some encounters are not positive. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Allen disappeared in February 2020. His phone was off, so it couldn’t be tracked, but his vehicle was spotted near the murky Yadkin River. Feeling frustrated with local law enforcement’s response, his family contacted AWP. “My gut feeling just keeps telling me he’s in that river… Something bad has happened to him,” said Trudy Bernstein, Nicholas’s aunt.
AWP used information from the family and found the vehicle with sonar less than two hours after arriving at the river. However, the video of them notifying local law enforcement shows an officer displaying a shocking lack of empathy towards the family and hostility towards the AWP team.
In response to public outcry, Sheriff Richie Simmons issued an apology to both the family and AWP. He stated the officer’s behavior was “not empathetic or kind to the family of Nick, and also was not welcoming or appreciative to Adventures with Purpose. Please know that the interaction you had with our investigator does not represent how we train our officers, and his actions are not in accordance with our expectations.”
4 Jan Shupe Smith: Missing since 2021
A Florida family endured ten painful months before learning the fate of 59-year-old Margaret “Jan” Shupe Smith. She vanished on April 2, 2021, while driving her green Kia Soul. Her family reached out to AWP, who searched several water bodies in Polk County’s Lakeland area for Smith’s car.
AWP was about to pause their search when a Polk County deputy shared that Smith had been in a minor traffic accident on the day she disappeared. This new information led them to a small retention pond in a new housing development, about a mile from the crash site. Within minutes of arriving at the shallow, algae-covered pond, Jan’s car was found with a body inside, hidden just 18 inches beneath the water’s surface.
Smith had gone missing at night and reportedly had poor night vision. The neighborhood was also under construction, which might have confused her, causing her to accidentally drive into the unmarked, unfenced pond at the end of an unfinished road. “This was a tragic accident, and our prayers are with the family,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. “We’re grateful for Adventures with Purpose working with us in locating the vehicle.”
5 Timothy Robinson: Missing since 2008
AWP and other similar dive groups didn’t always focus on cold cases. AWP’s founder, Jared Leisek, initially started his YouTube channel to document his efforts to remove 2,000 pounds of trash from waterways in three months.
In May 2020, during a live-streamed environmental cleanup in Oregon’s Willamette River, the group unexpectedly pulled out a car belonging to 56-year-old Timothy Robinson. Robinson had disappeared in November 2008, leaving a suicide note stating his intent to drive off a boat ramp. Twelve years later, the AWP team quickly ended the live stream when they realized the vehicle contained human remains.
Robinson’s niece, Jessica, was surprised by the call from detectives but pleased the family finally had answers. “Thank you for bringing closure to this family. It’s been a long time, and now he can finally be put to rest. Thank you, and God bless,” she expressed.
6 Brian Goff & Joni Davis: Missing since 2018
Brian Goff, 66, from Ohio, was the full-time caregiver for 55-year-old Joni Davis, who had a traumatic brain injury. They were last seen leaving a Pizza Hut on June 18, 2018, and then they vanished.
While taking a break from another cold case, Chaos Divers decided to search for the missing couple. Team member Lindsay Bussick described how they found them one mile south of their last cell phone ping. “When the vehicle came across the sonar, there was no doubt what it was.” Goff and Davis were discovered in the Ohio River in their submerged Oldsmobile, still secured by their seatbelts.
Authorities are unsure how the vehicle ended up in the water but have ruled out foul play. Local councilman Jack Regis suggested, “One of them could have had a health problem at that time. Nobody knows that answer, and we’ll never know. It’s just a shame, but at least the families got closure finally.”
7 Carey Mae Parker: Missing since 1991
Carey Mae Parker, a young Texan mother of three, was only 23 when she disappeared without a trace in March 1991. After more than 30 years, the mystery was solved in February 2021 when AWP found her vehicle submerged in Lake Tawakoni.
The road near the discovery was closed, and part of the deteriorated vehicle, matching the description of Parker’s car, was recovered. AWP returned months later, conducted a grid search, and recovered the rest of the car and human remains. They also found clothing items and a child’s bicycle. Parker’s sister, Patricia Gager, mentioned that on the day Carey disappeared, she planned to buy a bicycle for her son’s 6th birthday. “She will still have to be identified through DNA, but I have no other reason to believe [it’s] not her,” Gager explained.
8 Samantha Hopper & Her Babies: Missing since 1998
Samantha Hopper, a 20-year-old Arkansas woman, was nearly nine months pregnant when she and her two-year-old daughter, Courtney, were reported missing on September 11, 1998. Hopper was on her way to drop off her daughter before heading to a concert in Little Rock when they vanished.
Chaos Divers and Adventures with Purpose teamed up to solve this 23-year-old mystery. Using family information about Hopper’s habits and schedule, they narrowed down potential locations and searched different areas of Russellville Lake. About an hour into their search, they located the vehicle in the lake, submerged in approximately 10 feet of water.
Human remains were found inside as the vehicle was recovered. Hopper’s surviving daughter, Dezarae Carpenter, felt relieved that her mother and siblings could finally have a proper farewell. Chaos Divers later shared on Facebook: “while it was gut-wrenching to have to see the tears stream down their faces as they were told the news, it was also incredibly heartwarming to see the smiles on their faces and the weight release from their shoulders knowing they were potentially bringing their loved ones home.”
9 Erin Foster & Jeremy Bechtel: Missing since 2000
When best friends Erin Foster, 18, and Jeremy Bechtel, 17, disappeared without a trace on April 3, 2000, rumors flew in Sparta, Tennessee. However, their families knew something was terribly wrong. “Just a nightmare, man. Just a total nightmare,” described Erin’s father, Cecil Foster.
Years passed, and Sheriff Steve Page decided to re-examine the cold case. Starting fresh, Page found a crucial piece of paper: the initial missing person’s report filed by Erin’s family. Details in the report suggested authorities had been searching on the wrong side of the county. When Jeremy Sides of “Exploring with Nug” showed interest, Page knew where to direct him. Following Page’s hunch, Sides used sonar to scan a section of the Calfkiller River. Just 13 feet below the surface, he found the Pontiac Grand Am driven by Foster.
The car was recovered, and the remains of both Erin and Jeremy were found inside. After more than two decades, Sheriff Page could finally tell the families what happened to their children. It appeared to be a tragic traffic accident where they simply drove off the road. “I don’t think I believed it even though he’s got the license plate in his hand,” Erin’s father said.
10 Janet Farris: Missing since 1992
Remarkably, you don’t always need specialized training or equipment to solve such cases. Sometimes, it comes down to luck and timing. In British Columbia, Canada, 13-year-old Max Werenka was using his GoPro in Lake Griffen when he and some visitors spotted a car. Inside was the body of 69-year-old Janet Farris, reported missing in 1992.
Farris disappeared while driving from Vancouver Island to a wedding in Alberta. “Two weeks later, we received a phone call from that family in Alberta asking why she never came to the wedding,” explained Farris’s granddaughter, Erin Farris-Hartley. “So she had actually been missing for two weeks with nobody knowing.”
Max’s GoPro footage, provided to the RCMP, clearly showed an upside-down car on the lake’s rocky bottom. When the vehicle was recovered, authorities finally knew Janet’s fate. “I think the worst thing was not knowing,” her son, George Farris, said. “We kind of assumed that maybe she had gone off the road or fallen asleep, or tried to avoid an accident or animal on the road,” he added, concluding that “given a sad situation, it’s the best of all outcomes.”
Conclusion
The dedication of these YouTube dive teams is truly remarkable. Groups like Adventures with Purpose, Exploring with Nug, and Chaos Divers, along with individuals like Max Werenka, are transforming hopeless cold cases into resolved mysteries. They use their skills, technology, and often their own resources to search where others might have overlooked. More than just finding vehicles, they find answers. They bring long-awaited closure to grieving families, demonstrating the profound impact that determined individuals and online communities can have in the real world. Their work highlights a unique intersection of modern technology, volunteer spirit, and the enduring hope for answers.
What do you think about the work these YouTube divers are doing? Share your thoughts and leave your comment below!
