MONTREAL — Police north of Montreal say a vehicle found in the Mille-Îles river on Sunday could be linked to the case of a Laval man who went missing in 1988.
Deux-Montagnes police say they are looking into the discovery, which was reported to police by a diving group known as Exploring With a Mission.
"A security perimeter was immediately erected by the police officers, and the police force is currently investigating in order to validate certain information obtained by the divers who made the discovery," the force said in a statement.
Exploring With a Mission searches waterways for missing people using sonar and divers.
Group member William McIntosh said he and diver Dan Pritchard were searching the river at the request of the family of Robert St-Louis, a 42-year-old father of five last seen in June 1988.
McIntosh said they were exploring the waterways near the missing man's former home when the sonar picked up an image of an "upside-down car that was square," like St-Louis's tan Jeep Cherokee Chief.
A dive by Pritchard early Sunday confirmed the vehicle matched the description of the missing man's vehicle. Pritchard also looked inside the vehicle and saw bones that he believes are human remains, McIntosh said.
"We can't confirm or deny it's him, but we're confident it's the vehicle," McIntosh said in a phone interview.
Deux-Montagnes police said in a news release that they have requested the assistance of Quebec provincial police divers because the vehicle might be linked to a missing person case.
The case will eventually be passed to Laval police, whose spokesperson said Sunday that their crimes against persons division will try to confirm whether any human remains recovered from the site can be identified.
The Exploring With a Mission team was also behind the discovery of a body in a vehicle that was pulled from the St-François river in the province's Mauricie region on July 12.
Police confirmed that the vehicle had belonged Yvon Guévin, a man who had gone missing in July 2014.
McIntosh said the search for St-Louis also resulted in the discovery of other cars in the river in the same area, so he said it's possible more Quebec missing persons cases could be resolved.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2025.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
