Recovered Ford Ranger Holds Key to Solving Missing Persons Case

Truck driven owned by man missing for 26 years was discovered submerged in a river, and may finally help solve this case.

When cars are stolen and joyridden, it’s not uncommon for them to be discarded in water, never to be seen again. Every once in a while, you’ll read a story about a small lake that has been drained due either to environmental factors or construction, revealing the final resting place of a stolen car written off years or even decades ago.

Recently, recreational divers in Oregon discovered an old Ford Ranger submerged in about 20 feet of water in the Columbia River. This time, however, the truck in question wasn’t stolen and discarded – or at least, it doesn’t appear that way.

The divers found the truck submerged near the end of the dock while looking for a friend’s lost boat propeller. Despite its proximity to the shore, the truck remained undetected for so long due to the murky state of the water. Apparently, it was nearly impossible to see unless you were right on top of it, and sonar images of the area made it resemble a pile of rocks.

According to The Drive, the truck was just past the edge of a boat ramp. When the truck was pulled out of the water and moved to shore, investigators found human remains in the truck, and a driver’s licence belonging to one Maynard Koen.

Koen was reported missing 26 years ago, and the truck was registered to him. While we’ll have to wait for positive confirmation from the medical examiner tasked with identifying those remains, it’s likely that the end of that boat ramp in the Hat Rock State Park was Koen’s untimate fate and final resting place.

Koen, a resident of Prosser, Washington, was born in 1911 and reported missing in August 1993. According to KOMO News, he was well-known and well-liked. Locals nicknamed him “Friday,” after the day he first rode into town by train.

At the time of his disappearance, he was 81 years old. When folks in town noticed his absence, a missing persons report was filed. After a fruitless initial search that spanned three states, friends of Koen may have answers, over a quarter of a century later.

Photos: Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office

Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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