Overview
- Firefighters first noticed the corroded car on the Rhine riverbed in early August and crews completed a difficult salvage operation about two weeks later when bone fragments were found in and around the vehicle.
- Police say the car is believed to be a Fiat 126 from the late 1970s to mid-1980s and show heavy decay consistent with having lain on the riverbed for many years.
- The Bonn criminal police opened a formal investigation after the bones were discovered and have sent the remains to Rechtsmedizin Köln for forensic and DNA analysis.
- Authorities warn that long submersion can severely degrade biological material, so forensic teams say DNA recovery is possible but uncertain and no match to a missing person or evidence of homicide has yet been confirmed.
- A separate vehicle recovered near Cologne was identified as a Toyota Yaris stolen in June 2014, illustrating how low Rhine levels are both reopening cold cases and closing others as relics reappear.