Divers find missing Texas woman’s car in Brazos River

A group of Diver dredged a car from the Brazos River in Texas that was finally able to solve a missing persons case opened in 2017. In December of this year, 42-year-old Stephanie Torres left her home in Waco, Texas behind the wheel of her 2006 Kia Rio ABC. She left her “wallet, cell phone and medication” at home and the family said it wasn’t uncommon for Stephanie to be gone for days.

But Torres did not return, and her family filed a missing persons case with Waco PD. Police claim they investigated the disappearance by searching highways for records of her car’s license plate and even enlisted the Texas Rangers to assist. Her investigations went nowhere and Stephanie’s case was closed in 2019.

In December 2021, a team of divers reached out to Stephanie’s daughter, Bianca, to offer her free help. The group bears the name Adventure with meaning, and uses sonar to find cars underwater; They specialize in finding people who have disappeared along with their cars.

The divers took information provided by the Torres family and determined that Stephanie’s car could be in the Brazos River, which is allegedly near the missing woman’s house.

the Diver began their search and found Stephanie’s car in less than an hour:

Today, AWP began our search for 43-year-old Stephanie Torres, who was last seen driving her Kia Rio just after midnight on December 21, 2017 in Waco, Texas. Our day starts at 9:00 a.m, Jacob Grubbs and his team from Chaos Divers met with AWP along with Bianca (Stephanie’s daughter). Based on clues about what happened before Stephanie was last seen on December 21, both dive teams began scanning the Brazos River on the west side of the Brazos Park East Boat Ramp.

In less than an hour, our teams identified 3 targets 13 feet underwater at the East Boat Ramp. After marking the targets in question, Doug and Jacob pounced on all three vehicles and identified a Kia Rio that matched the description of Miss Torres’ car. The craft was upside down, 55 feet from shore, 13 feet under water.

Waco PD confirmed that the Kia Rio belongs to Stephanie Torres. The divers also found a possibly human jaw in the car, but the remains have not been confirmed to be those of Stephanie Torres.

An NBC reporter asked Waco Police why the divers found the missing car within an hour of searching while the Waco PD was unable to uncover any leads or leads during their investigation. Waco Police said, “…the original investigating detective found no information to lead them to believe she was in any body of water or even at that location at all.” Waco PD is now investigating the car and the human remains found inside, all of it thanks to the divers.

The divers began organizing environmental cleanup dives in Portland, Oregon, but the group’s founder realized that cars affected by missing person cases were routinely found during cleanup dives. Many of these cars contained human bodies or remains, so the group changed their focus to help solve cases of the common cold.

The number of cars their search uncovered is indeed surprising. Last week, divers found over a dozen cars inside Lake Whitney while investigating another cold case in Texas, that of John Screech, who went missing in 2009. The divers found 13 cars submerged from 30 to 65 feet NOW. Lake Whitney originates from the Brazos River where divers found Stephanie Torres’ car.

Photo: Bexar County Sheriff’s Office