A sonar device has helped four families have received answers to the years-long question, “Where is our missing loved one?” in the last six months.

Jason Souhrada and Adam Brown Adventures, a non-profit search and rescue team based in Columbia, provided the answers.

As the thrusters were dying fairly quickly on my sonar device, I wanted to test out the new batteries.

Souhrada’s sonar device discovered a car at the bottom of a North Carolina creek last June, closing a 40-year-old cold case.

During his free time, he has been scanning bodies of water along the Grand Strand.

I just put it in the water. I wanted to be productive with it, so I scanned the area and sure enough there was a car in the water there,” said Souhrada.

SONAR DEVICE

It turned out that the car was stolen, but it inspired him to research missing people in the area.

Having researched Daniel’s case, I called my diving friend Adam Brown from Adam Brown Adventures in Columbia to see if he would like to dive on it,” Souhrada said.

Daniel Riggs was last seen at a Food Lion in Myrtle Beach on November 9, 2015, according to Mount Pleasant Police Department investigators.

Riggs told his girlfriend that he was in Georgetown at the time, and investigators have confirmed that his cellphone last pinged there.

Souhrada tracked the phone pings and returned to the Georgetown boat landing. “We got in the water there and found multiple vehicles immediately. I think we found at least 25 vehicles within a quarter-mile radius.”

We decided to send down an underwater drone that Adam had to speed up the process of checking for the vehicle we were looking for, Daniel Riggs’ Dodge Nitro, so on the third vehicle we inspected — it turned out it was Daniel’s car, so Adam got the license plate and we contacted the police,” said Souhrada.

Assisting Brown in retrieving the vehicle, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it belonged to Riggs.

Chase Ridgeway of the Georgetown County Coroners Office identified Riggs’ remains inside the Nitro.

Both Souhrada and Brown describe their work as bittersweet.

The reality is, you know, there is so much water to be checked, and you can’t always do it,” Brown explained. “So, private teams like ours come in. We do not charge the families anything, you know. We just go out on our own dime, on our own time, and we just try to do everything we can to help.

I saw other guys doing it on YouTube and I wanted the same feeling — to be able to help,” said Souhrada.

The following advice is from Souhrada for anyone searching for a missing person.

Family members should keep looking for their missing loved ones and keep making news stories about them because that will help keep the story moving forward. When people like me, Adam, or any other search team members see a car in the water and wonder if it could be the missing guy,” Souhrada said.