Florida Family Missing From Fort Lauderdale Since '99 Found Dead in Van Submerged in Canal Off I-75
A mother and two daughters who went missing in 1999 during a drive from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa, Florida, has been found deceased -- their car submerged in a canal. According to news reports, a Broward Sheriff's Office dive team on a training exercise in a canal off Florida I-75 last week discovered a green submerged van containing skeletal remains. Police identified the remains as those of Nelta Jacques, her two young daughters, and her unborn child. Ms. Jacques and her children had gone missing in June 1999 on a rainy night, as they were driving from Ft. Lauderdale to their home in Tampa, Florida.
Broward County, Florida Police have ruled the deaths accidental, due to an apparent car accident. Police theorize that Ms. Jacques may have pulled off Florida Interstate 75 to get out of the bad weather and accidentally drove into a canal around mile marker no. 31, near a boat ramp. The BSO dive team found the green van submerged under 18 feet of water -- the bodies still strapped in to their seat belts.
NBC News of Miami, Florida, reports that traffic accidents occurring off Florida canal roads -- where vehicles and their occupants end up trapped under water -- are tragically all too common. A news article stated that...
Divers from the Broward Sheriff's office made 90 dives in canals last year alone. One in every 100 cars they find has human remains.
Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers may be consulted by families when a serious or fatal car accident occurs, to determine whether negligence or recklessness on the part of another party or parties may have caused or contributed toward the accident.
NBC News reported that the Broward County Medical Examiner called on Florida transportation officials to join him in identifying the most dangerous roads along South Florida's canals (e.g., those with difficult bends), where cars are most apt to go off the road and into the water -- in hopes of improving safety and preventing deadly motor vehicle accidents such as this sad story.
Vanished 11 Years Ago, Missing Mom Mystery is Resolved
NBCMiami.com April 2, 2010
Related Web Resource
Broward County Sheriff's Office: Marine Patrol and Dive Team
