Sonar search company hopes to solve 58-year-old unsolved missing person's case in Polk County
HIGHLAND CITY, Fla. - A company that searches for missing people is now setting its sights on a 58-year-old Polk County cold case.
Peggy Wynell Byars-Baisden was 23 years old when she disappeared in 1965 in Highland City, along with her car.
"We've been looking at that Peggy case since day one when we started," said Mike Sullivan, the founder of Sunshine State Sonar, a private company specializing in underwater sonar technology that locates submerged vehicles.
Since January, they've recovered six people and 250 vehicles from bodies of water including a vehicle in Tarpon Canal. Some of the vehicles were used in crimes such as insurance fraud or robberies as well as homicides.
The case they hope to solve soon is that of Peggy Wynell Byars-Baisden from Highland City who went missing in April 1965.
"I know there has been a lot of questions from her family," said Sullivan. "Is her vehicle in one of those nearby lakes? If somebody did kill her then they dumped it in a nearby lake?"
According to the Charley Project, Byars-Baisden was driving a 1959 Chevrolet Coupe and was last seen near the now-defunct Chatterbox Bar near the Polk Parkway and Highway 98. She was seen in the parking lot with an unknown man who was helping her with some mechanical problems with her car.
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Sunshine State Sonar will be searching the bodies of water within five miles of where she was last seen.
"The biggest challenges we have on these old cases are the geographical changes that took place," Sullivan said. "You can image the terrain that has changed. New lakes that have been dug and filled."
Which is why satellite imaging or historical pictures from the local library are very important. Sullivan hopes to begin the search for Byars-Baisden in October.
In regard to the search, the Polk County Sheriff's Office sent FOX 13 the following statement from Sheriff Grady Judd:
"As a law enforcement agency, we have limited resources. But private companies are able to conduct searches of lakes and actually make money by sharing videos of their searches for entertainment. It’s a win for the search teams and a win for the victims’ families when these searches solve cases. This particular case has had no leads in decades, so we welcome any help that can solve this case."