Leawood Police say the vehicle found at the bottom of a neighborhood retention pond over the weekend belonged to a man reported missing in 2016.
In a press release on Monday afternoon, Leawood Police Capt. Jason Ahring said the vehicle discovered by a volunteer dive team matched that reported driven by Jay Flekier.
Flekier was 59 years old when he was first reported missing from his southern Leawood home a decade ago.
“An investigation was opened and no foul play was suspected in Mr. Flekier’s disappearance,” Ahring said.
The release went on to say that skeletal remains were found in the vehicle after it was raised from the pond. The Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to identify the remains, Ahring said in the release.
“Our thoughts continue to be with Mr. Flekier’s family, who have asked for privacy,” Ahring concluded.
According to a database maintained by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NAMUS, run by the National Institute of Justice, Flekier went missing on June 7, 2016, the same day as his mother’s funeral.
Vehicle discovered on Saturday
Leawood Police said a volunteer dive team found a vehicle belonging to a missing person in a pond on Saturday morning.
In a news release, Ahring, the Leawood Police spokesperson, said the vehicle was found in a retention pond in the 14700 block of Norwood Street, after the dive team deployed sonar equipment into the pond.
The retention pond is in the LeaBrooke neighborhood, near 148th Street and Kenneth Road.
Ahring said the sonar equipment detected a large metal object. The team then sent in a diver to investigate further.
The diver found a car with a license plate that matched the vehicle of the missing person, now identified as Flekier.
The Overland Park Police Department’s dive team was then called. They used a tow truck to successfully remove the vehicle from the pond.
Dive team confirms Leawood activity
On Sunday, Missouri-based Echo Divers posted to its Facebook page that its team had found the vehicle in Leawood.
On Monday, Echo Divers confirmed the vehicle they had found belonged to Flekier, following Leawood Police’s announcement.
“Whenever we put the sonar in the water, the goal is always to bring answers to families who have lived with the ache of the unknown,” the group’s Facebook post said. “Knowing we could help bring answers after so many years brings a quiet sense of purpose, but our hearts ache for what his family is going through right now.
“The Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office is currently handling the formal identification process. Please keep Jay’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, and give them the peace and space they deserve.”
On its website, Echo Divers describes itself as “Missouri’s specialized search and recovery team, partnering with law enforcement agencies, organizations, and families to help bring closure in missing persons cases.”
