The bodies of a mother and her young child who went missing in Florida in 1974 may have finally been found, the Plantation Police Department (PDP) said on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

On Tuesday, Aug. 13, the PDP shared a media release stating that the human remains that dive teams recovered in a canal on Aug. 10 are believed to be those of Doris Wurst, 34, and her 3-year-old daughter, Caren Wurst.

The two were reported missing on Nov. 12, 1974 from their home located at 13411 NW 2nd St. in Plantation. At the time it was known as Sunshine City Trailer Park. It is no longer in existence.

Wurst’s 1961 Chevrolet Impala was also unaccounted for at the time of their disappearance.

With law enforcement unable to locate the mother and her child, the case eventually went cold. It was reopened in 1977, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2018, but “results were negative,” per the PDP.

Eventually, Sunshine State Sonar, a group that conducts volunteer searches for vehicular missing person cases in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, got involved and began doing Pro bono searches in June 2023.

On Saturday, Aug. 10, the organization found what they believed to be the missing vehicle in a canal near the 10100 block of W. Broward Boulevard.

Per the PDP press release, “a SCUBA dive search revealed that it was a 60s model Chevrolet Impala.”

Skeletal remains consistent with an adult and a child were also uncovered at the site.