Police in the small Minnesota town of Woodbury are searching for answers after they pulled a Pontiac 6000 station wagon from a shallow part of a local lake.
According to local news outlet Bring Me The News, the Woodbury Parks and Recreation Division were recently clearing some overgrown weeds out of Colby Lake in Woodbury when an employee of a contractor spotted the roof of a car sitting a few feet below the surface of the water.
The city called the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Twin Cities Transport and Recovery team, which arrived on-site over the weekend to extract the vehicle from the water. Authorities later identified the vehicle as a red Pontiac 6000 station wagon, but were unable to locate the vehicle’s VIN due to the mud, slime and algae covering the bodywork. Aerial photos dating back to 2006 show the car sitting at the bottom of the lake, so it has been in the water for quite some time. Police believe the Pontiac may have been in the lake since the mid-to-late 1990s, when homes were built along the east side of the lake where the car was sitting.
Washington County Sheriff’s Office Commander John Altman told Bring Me The News said the case “remains a mystery,” for now, as they cannot determine who the owner of the vehicle was without the VIN. His office has reached out to the National Insurance Crime Bureau to help locate the vehicle’s VIN and potentially an owner, but has yet to hear back.
“Windows were down on the car, and it was full of algae, dirt, slime, and a couple of fish,” Altman explained. “There were no license plates on the vehicle, and when the car came out of the water, we were not able to find a VIN due to the slime and sludge.”
If your Pontiac 6000 wagon went missing in the Minnesota area in the mid-to-late 1990s, you may want to get in touch with the local police in Washington County.
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Comments
Teenage joyride c. 1994 gone wrong?
Hmm so somebody wiped out the VIN and drive it into a lake. Sounds like a crime vehicle.
Maybe it had the same transmission as my Dad’s 1985 Pontiac 6000?
The bottom of a lake probably wouldn’t have been a bad solution for that.
It actually looks better than normal for a car under water that long. The colder lake may have cut some damage.
Stolen that sunk.
Most likely an insurance fraud by its original owner
The next episode of “Will It Run?”
This story seems, um, fishy. Isn’t the VIN embossed in more places than just the plate on the dash board? Also, aren’t there traceable serial numbers on major pieces such as the engine block, transmission or transaxle, etc.?
That car sure looks well preserved for having been under water that long.
And this story about an old ass rusted out car, that quite clearly NO ONE cares about is news becauzzzze? 🤔 Help me understand this nonsense please
Any story that mentions a GM vehicle in any way is fair game.
You’re on a GM page….its a mystery,and it’s a GM car.
MAYBE SOMEBODY JUST WANTED TO GET RID OF THE JUNKBOX.
”we were not able to find a VIN due to the slime and sludge” — means that the VIN becomes visible by cleaning at least the parts of the car where the VIN is embossed.
Sure, when they “were not able to find a VIN due to the slime and sludge”, this is not an agreeable work.
But with an high pressure water cleaner (do they sell Kärcher in USA?) this can be done. The manufacturer should provide the place(s) of the VIN.
I worked on many of those in Houston,believe me they don’t float.
As the previous owner of one, that’s the best place for it.
This was possibly the way an owner got out from under a factory built piece of crap and stopped his payments, give it to the insurance company.
“If your missing this car you might want to call?? ” Ya right, so you can pay for the salvage and disposal fees? If this was my car I’d keep my mouth shut!
I guess that I can’t interest you an extended warranty?
Stupid story!
Until it unfolds a disappearance of a person or a muder victim.
Sheriff Marge Gunderson, now the mother of an adult child and no longer pregnant, showed up and just thought she was gonna barf again. A new episode of Fargo.
A slow news day for GM and its vehicles… if it gets any slower, we may start to see reports on GM vehicles being ticketed for parking violations…
Cool car.
Dam they found it lol!!! Pontiac 6000 belonged in the bottom of a lake in Minnesota!!
Someone just left it there after ice fishing season.
The VIN tag is on the left front of the dash right behind the windshield. It’s metal and attached to the metal body,it’s virtually indestructible.
I don’t think anyone is going to reach out and claim it then get that dumped on the driveway? Nope
Lol, apparently the proofreading team is on vacation. “If you’re Pontiac 6000 wagon”. I hope that no person is a Pontiac wagon.
If your law enforcement can not find the VIN on a car, you might think of changing the dept. Serious ineptness there.
Craigslist – Rare Find!
Pontiac 6000 Wagon
“Needs TLC… Ran when parked”
You ask hat kind of news we, the readers want to read? Clearly not this kind.
What about Elvis is still alive and drives a Cadillac?
They really must be hard up for news to put this on. There’s thousands of cars everywhere in ponds and lakes. WTF?
But this one got pulled out of the pond.
Maybe the car wanted to go for a swim and drowned?
Your, not You’re
As a Minnesotan from a small town population: under 2,000. Woodbury is not a small town, it’s our 8th largest town and right near the cities.
I bet if they look up some unsolved stolen car reports in 2006 they could figure this one out.
Doesn’t the Sherif have someone who can wash the car? Vin’s are on at least five (5) places on that vehicle ; No Brainer. So, Let’s get it clean so you can finish the story… News?
“the Minnesota area”
“If you’re Pontiac 6000 wagon went missing”
Should be “If your”.
Would like to know if they’re giving it away? I smell a resto mod in the future. LS Swapped and all.
Front-wheel drive. Unless you pull a Northstar from a 90s GM product or the V8 from the last Impala SS, you’ll have trouble getting it to fit.
A Pontiac 6000 Station Wagon? a REAL Pontiac 6000 Station Wagon!!!! not a kit car, but the ACTUAL one! WOW!!! That’s got to be worth at least half of the cost tax payers spent recovering it! No VIN? Who cares!!! We’re talking about a cultural icon!!! What a girl-getter that was! Every boy dreamed of pulling up at their high school with one of those!!! A R-E-A-L Pontiac 6000! The ladies lined up to take turns riding around in one of those! And they found fish in it too? Luck fish to have a cool underwater mansion like that… Don’t ever wash the truck that hauled that car away!
When the owner heard that Pontiac was dead, he/she thought that “a burial at sea” was appropriate!
Clowns
Cleaned up the streets but polluted the lake..!!!
I’d love too have it for what it seems body is in great shape take a crate motor throw in her and Yu got a sleeper if y’all decide too sell lmk. Who am I kidding if they can’t even find the vin no way in hell they will ever find my comment 😂😂😂
All they need to do is look at the drivers door jamb for the VIN code, sometimes it’s on the passenger side door jam, and others it’s on the steering column.
Otherwise take a chop saw or axe, equipment those teams have on hand, and cut a hole in the windshield at the bottom of the drivers side, then use a garden hose to blast away all the muck. The VIN tag is riveted to the dashboard.
Vin is on driver door ,frame, dash and motor
So is it for sale?
You don’t always get to see the James Bond vehicles that are failures.
Please you guys, have some respect.
It’s not GM any more, that’s too ostentatious.’
It is now gm so we don’t offend other brands.