Her name was Margaret "Jan" Shupe Smith. She was 59 when she vanished near Lakeland, Florida in 2021.
No clues were found, and investigations led to dead ends. Her family and the police were baffled.
Michelle Sanders, one of Smith’s relatives, said that she is a fan of a YouTube channel called Adventures with Purpose (AWP). Based in Oregon, the channel is dedicated to documenting the works of a scuba diving team.
AWP is also known for their efforts in helping families and the police finding missing loved ones across the U.S., and has in fact, helped solve more than a dozen cases since 2019.
It was Sanders who contacted AWP and submitted Jan's case details.
AWP agreed to help.
It all began when Jan Smith was supposed to pick up her daughter, Marley Shupe, after work on April 2, 2021, driving her green-colored Kia Soul
Jan never missed picking up her daughter when she had to. And because of this, when Jan didn't came, Marley knew something had happened to her mother.
Days later, Jan was still missing, and so was her car.
Her family was certain that something must have gone terrible wrong.
AWP is a sonar search and recovery diving team, and its members are known to travel the U.S. trying to locate missing vehicles and in turn, find missing people.
“We specialize in cold cases that people are missing and missing with their vehicle. We have a very unique ability to find vehicles underwater the way agencies necessarily do not,” said head diver Doug Bishop.
Trusted with the job, the team of divers brought their production crews and other members with them, and spent a couple of days in Lakeland, searching for the car belonging to Jan.
During that period, they found two trucks in Lake Christina, they said, but no Kia and nothing about Jan.
“We were searching all over across Lakeland and we couldn’t find anything in those bodies of water and then we were tipped off by some law enforcement that she actually got in a car accident around this area,” executive producer Carson McMaster said.
Then suddenly, the team learned that law enforcement in the area responded to a car crash in north Lakeland involving Jan on the same day she was reported missing.
It is said that Jan was involved in a minor car accident, in a different area then where the team was searching.
The report had not been filed yet, explaining why the police had not been there to investigate thoroughly.
Realizing this, the team quickly dispatched to the area, which led them to Victoria Road and a new housing development called “Hunter’s Crossing.”
It only took the team 30 minutes to find the missing Kia.
“The vehicle is actually just resting 18 inches below the surface level. The water table never reached low enough that the vehicle could be revealed,” said McMaster.
After finding the vehicle and confirmed that it was really a Kia Soul, the team called the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
When the law enforcement arrived at the scene, they pulled the car out of the pond and discovered a female body inside.
“You want to provide the family with answers. We never say closure but it’s the answers that they need so they can finally mourn and move on,” said McMaster.
“It’s an honor to provide a family with answers. Really it is, it’s an absolute honor that’s the best word,” Bishop added.
The place where the Kia Soul was found, is in a retention pond located in a newly-developed neighborhood.
When Jan was missing, it was at night, and according to Sanders, Jan couldn’t see well at night. Making things less fortunate for the woman, the neighborhood was also under construction, which could have led to her being confused with her surroundings, causing her to accidentally drive into the water.
“This was a tragic accident, and our prayers are with the family,” Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff, said in the release. “We’re grateful for Adventures with Purpose working with us in locating the vehicle.”
Smith’s family said that the finding was shocking and upsetting, but they are glad that their search for their missing relative is finally over.
At long last, they have answers.
“I got mixed emotions. I’m super happy and excited,” said Sanders.
“On the flip side, my heart breaks for Marley, at least she knows now that it was an accident.”
"We’re very fortunate that these families have allowed us to share their stories with something as so intimate and personal to them, with the understanding and the appreciation that they were able to find us because the families before them shared their stories," said Leisek.
AWP started out as a team that included a diver and a few cameramen. They were never into cold cases, as their early intentions for creating the YouTube channel, was to document diving experiences, and picking up trash that littered the waterways.
From picking up things like mobile devices to sunglasses, to cans and some other things, the team realized that there are more than just garbage inside the waters.
"I accidentally ran into a vehicle that was 40 feet underwater in Portland, Oregon.”
They realized that there are lots of cars missing but are actually underwater. From there, the team at AWP evolved, and started working to find submerged vehicles.
While the channel is for profit, the team don’t charge families or police for their services. Instead, they earn their money from social media and donations.
The group said that they only take cases when foul play is not suspected. Leisek added that many police departments might not have the resources on hand or the equipment AWP has to search bodies of water.
"It’s not anything that [law enforcement agencies] lack. It’s just – if they don’t have anything to go off of, they have to justify their resources. We don’t have to justify anything," explained Bishop.
