Low river exposes car with '80s plates at New Madrid boat ramp

Extremely low water levels on the Mississippi River led to the discovery of a car at the bottom of the New Madrid boat ramp that may have been submerged there for years.

The New Madrid Police Department said that on Sunday afternoon, a couple walking along the river reported finding a car in the mud at the bottom of the ramp.

Parts of the the wreckage were pulled from the water and examined. The license plate on the vehicle expired in 1985. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is working to identify the license plate, but police said numbers that old are routinely expunged from their system.

Police said no human bones or remains were found in the car.

New Madrid Police Chief Joey Higgerson said they had hopes the vehicle could be tied to the 2013 disappearance of Barbara Stoffer, but that doesn't look to be the case.

Even so, police and Missouri Conservation officers have been walking the river bank while the water is low to see if anything related to Stoffer’s disappearance can be spotted.

New Madrid is located just downstream from Fulton, Kentucky on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River.


This wreckage of a car was found Sunday at the foot of the New Madrid, MO boat ramp. Mississippi River levels are extremely low, and exposed the car that may have been submerged there for years.  (Photo New Madrid Police Facebook page)