Miami-Dade Police fishes for stolen cars submerged in lake behind CBS Miami’s station

DORAL — The Miami-Dade Police Department’s dive team was in the lake behind the CBS News Miami station.

This is the second time within the last year the dive team has been at the lake. When many of the CBS News Miami staff parked their cars Wednesday morning, they noticed divers getting into the lake, looking for something. That something was cars, MDPD tells CBS News Miami — stolen cars to be exact.

A car dangled over Airport Lake in Doral as a crane plucked it out of the water like an arcade claw.

“It is possible that this lake could be related to something beyond just a stolen vehicle,” said Stuart Kaplan, a former FBI Special agent.

About 10 divers were loaded onto a boat and taken out into the middle of the water.

For hours they searched one area in particular. That’s when airbags were deployed and cars began surfacing — three to be exact.

Kaplan said cars can be key details to solving crimes from the past.

“Obviously if you go back in time it may be juveniles who were joyriding in stolen cars,” he said “And then when they got done driving these vehicles they just unloaded them into the lake.”

Kaplan said a search like this can be triggered by a tip.

“Where it is possible that he or she historically has some information that may be relevant or provident to an investigation that quite frankly hit a dead end,” said Kaplan.

Miami-Dade Police did confirm the oldest car pulled from the water today was a 1970 model that was reported stolen back in 1975.

As for the other two cars? They are stolen but that is all they know so far.