Welcome To River Diver

Welcome to my website.

If you suspect or see a vehicle in the water in the Tennessee River please call the TVA Police 1-800-839-0003 or 911.

For informational purposes only! Do not try this on your own.

131 Vehicles found to date

Being I have retired and now no longer find submerged vehicles that means that probably no one else is going to brave the chilly, muddy waters of the Tennessee River to find them either. You and I already know that crime goes on such as stolen vehicles going in the drink and insurance fraud continues ramphant. So the way I have it figured....in ten thousand years as archaeologist begin to find remanents of vehicles buried in the rock which was once the bed of the great Tennessee River I'm sure they will say that men once worshipped their gods by running vehicles off into the depths. Perhaps they won't be all that wrong. 

All vehicles that I have found have been reported to and investigated by the Police/Sheriff's Departments with juridiction. Marine Police have also been on site for many extrications.

                    Just a tidbit

Just a tidbit: Any boat ramp, weekend lakeside party spot, backwoods on the lake campsite, ungated pond with drive-up access and teenager swimming hole has great potential for a vehicle to have been submerged. The more secluded the place is the higher the chance of a submerged vehicle being found goes up.

For the past thirty-three years I have been diving the Tennessee River and surrounding territories to search out and find underwater sites where stolen cars have been submerged beyond the grasp of police. During this time I have accumulated much knowledge needed to find these hidden sites mostly from being autodidactic. A lot of knowledge was gained when I served in Military Intelligence for five years of the fifteen years I served in the armed forces. I added the skills learned there to the skills I was learning first hand diving and the scenes exploded with new found finds. These finds were nothing that couldn't be found by a local fisherman or passerby if they just would have took the interest in reporting that oil film on the water, tire tracks leading into the water where they shouldn't be or that bent torn up bush on the edge of the bank.

I guess some call me being nosey or not minding my own business. I call it a necessity to protect the public life, limb and property. Why use such terminology? Simple, most of the submerged vehicle finds are less than five foot deep to the top of the vehicle. In the height of summer these can be less than that depending on how far the vehicle is from shore. If a bass fisherman doing 30 miles an hour in a bass boat manages to hit one of these vehicles then a life will be lost. A waste especially when it could have been prevented. That is my main motivation for finding submerged vehicles.

I know the danger and understand it in terms of what it presents to an unknowing public. I have had family killed in two seperate boating accidents that could have been prevented. The worst of which happened when a boat hit a submerged stump in Coon Creek, Jackson County, AL killing several of the same family at once. This same scenario could be an everyday occurance in North Jackson County, AL in the Tennessee River and South Marion County, TN in the Tennessee River at well known stolen vehicle dumping sites. I have pleaded with Law Enforcement and County Commissioners to block off these sites with guard rails that would prevent an easy hide for such activity but the same answer has been given...no money to do so and besides the thieves would just find another place. In the words of one of my past teachers at Pisgah High School..HOGWASH.

The thing that really upsets me is the treatment I get when I find a vehicle, report it to the police and once they get on site I'm treated like the bad guy. I know the textbook at the academy saids I'm the bad guy because I reported the crime...but come on thirty-three years of reporting the same crime and 131 vehicles later I'm treated like a bad guy.....? I should be treated with the utmost respect, I've earned it. I understand that many of the law enforcement officers that worked my scenes in the past have retired and the younger law enforcement officers don't know me or remember me from year to year. They just see me finding something that should be found only by someone who knew it was there to begin with. I know a submerged vehicle is at a site only by diving to try to find one. If I'm the only one that dives that site ten times a year then it would make sense that since that site is notorious for submerged vehicles then I would be the person that reports one if I found one.

Complete strangers I talk to on a daily basis while out doing plumbing calls that I introduce my hobby to have enough common sense to know the kind of diving I do is good for everyone except the crook that put the vehicle in the water. They Thank me out of the blue for doing something that is necessary and takes guts to do. Some of these folks are Secret Servicemen, U.S. Marshalls, Insurance Investigators, Atlanta Policemen, Cobb County Policemen, City of Marietta Policemen, Douglas County Deputies, Jackson County,AL Sheriff's Deputies, Alabama Constable, GBI Divers, City of Smryna Policemen,  Paulding County Deputies, Emergency Management Divers, Rescue Squad Divers/Members, Tennessee Constable, Marion County,TN Sheriff's Deputies and many other officers from other Departments and Agencies around the whole Atlanta metro area.

I'm just as happy not finding a submerged vehicle. I'm getting wet and relaxing from a week of doing hot, sticky, stinky plumbing and septic service calls in Atlanta as I work as a Master Plumber fifty hours a week most of the time more. So, I love my hobby of diving reguardless.

Matter of fact, one time I was diving in the river outside of Hollywood, AL and the Marine Police pulled up to ask what I was diving for, I told them I was diving for stolen vehicles, they laughed and ask what else I do for a living, I replied that I was a plumber. They laughed again and said, no wonder I could afford the diving equipment. I make better money plumbing than I ever could finding submerged vehicles so I never have done it for the money. The first thing someone asks me is...how much do you make diving for vehicles? Well let's just say most of the time it doesn't even pay my gas, air and lunch. Then again, I have not been paid for most of what I have found; I just believe it is something that needs to be done so I do it reguardless as a public service.

 Crime Suppression Diving

I call my form of diving "Crime Suppression Diving" because by diving known river vehicle dumping sites over and over again it in theory reduces the amount of crime that could be taking place. I am the Father of Crime Suppression Diving. I have proven it's worth with thirty-three years of documented evidence that it's a viable tool useful for any law enforcement agency interested in curbing submerged vehicle crimes in their juridiction. One use of this tool is: Word gets out that a diver is diving that site often then it takes that place away from the criminal and causes that person to do right and not commit a crime by plunging their vehicle off a boat ramp for fear it will be found quickly or it causes them to step out of their comfort zone by forcing them to do something else with the stolen vehicle that places them in more of a vicarious position of guilt. By making them get out of their comfort zone then they will make a mistake that will lead to their arrest and conviction. Below I have a list of dive sites that list vehicle finds and shows whether or not that site is active or inactive and the dates of latest activity. Most sites are inactive due to my preservence in diving them. Another use of this tool is: When a site stays active then vehicles are quickly found that should produce quick arrests and convictions. I have seen to many vehicles on the internet pulled from rivers worldwide that haven't been found for months up to twenty years or more. A crime suppression dive team could have saved the day in those cases. It has been argued with me that I am just forcing criminals to use other boat ramps or to chop shops. Then if this is the case I will find and probably have found that other boat ramp and in the case where the stolen vehicle goes to a chop shop then a detective doing his job will be able to take the chop shop out of business along with everyone involved in getting the vehicles there.

In a perfect world where I were a Sheriff with a Crime Suppression Dive Team known as the Submerged Crime Unit with a thousand miles of shoreline in my county as Jackson County, Alabama has that needed patrolled. I would have that dive team check on an irregular schedule the county's boat ramps while on department time and any other reported suspicions of submerged crime. Then on scheduled training days I would have the dive team dive other known sites in the county that has had submerging crime activity. There wouldn't be a lot of difference between a Crime Suppression Dive Team and a Swat Team other than scuba gear. I have personnally kept this thousand miles of shoreline checked for the past thirty-three years.

 Steady Declines

Over the past thirty-three years that I have been diving for submerged vehicles I have seen steady declines in underwater related crimes mainly due I believe to my diving perseverance. The vehicle dumping sites that I know about I reconnoiter on an irregular schedule. Some sites I dive as much as ten times a year while others that have shown a steady decline in activity I may dive once or just keep a watch on site activity that would suggest diving such as tracks leading into the water. Below is an example of thirty-six year dumping site declines. Sites are coded for security purposes.

Because of the fragile economy I believe that the upcoming years will bring a huge increase in submerged vehicle finds. Why?

(1) People wanting to rid themselves of a burdensome car payment

(2) People wanting to rid themselves of a leased vehicle with high mileage they can't afford to pay at the end of the lease or even a damaged leased vehicle that they can't pay for at the end of the lease.

(3) People wanting to rid themselves of a lemon car and just have the insurance pay for it

(4) People wanting to get back at someone just by sinking their car. These reasons come to me by talking to investigators, detectives, insurance agents and secret service personnel that I know.

(5) People that have involved their vehicle in a hit and run situation then dump it in hopes of blaming it on being stolen and the thief having hit and run something else; another vehicle, person or object, etc.

Most of the below sites were shown to me by Policemen, Sheriff's Department Investigators, Sheriff's Department Officers, Wrecker Operators, Constables and A Past Dive Buddy that helped to get me into the business. 

 With the state of the economy now is a great time to find submerged vehicles and it is something that needs to be done from the standpoint of a citizen fighting crime and keeping the waters safe.

 Dive Site Histories

Producing sites only

• Gorham's Bluff- 1976, 3 cut-up vehicles found, Now a subdivision is located there 
• D-1,  History- Began diving 6-80, one woman's body found July 1980,  eleven vehicles found and one soda vending machine, Inactive since 9-89, Now the area has been sold as house lots. Not accessible.
• D-2,  History- Began diving 6-80, one vehicle found, Inactive since 11-88, Gated off now.
• D-3,  History- Began diving 6-80, two vehicles found, Inactive since 11-88, No longer accessible.
• D-4,  History- Began diving 5-90, two vehicles found, Inactive since 5-90, Now Gated.
• D-5,  History- Began diving 6-86, one vehicle found,  Inactive since 6-86, No longer dive.
• D-7,  History- Began diving 10-98, twenty-six vehicles found, Not dove since 10-98. Ramp now has 24/7 camera surveilance.No longer dive.
• D-8,  History- Began diving 6-80,one vehicle found, Inactive since 3-92, No longer dive.
• A-4,  History- Began diving 6-80, Remaining active with 35 vehicles found, vehicles have been found submerged at this site from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee, last vehicle found on 6-18-11.
• A-3,   History-Began diving 6-80, two vehicles found, Inactive since 4-07
• A-2,   History-Began diving 6-80,one vehicle found, Inactive since 6-00
• A-8,   History-Began diving 8-79, six vehicles found, Inactive since 9-03
• A-6,   History-Begain diving 6-86, pistol part found under bridge, inactive since 6-86
• A-9,   History-Began diving 8-91,one vehicle found, Inactive since 8-91
• D-20, History-Began diving 8-97,one vehicle found, Inactive since 8-97,No longer dive.
• A-5,   History-Began diving 6-80, four vehicles found, Inactive since 9-99
• D-22, History-Began diving 8-79, one vehicle found, Inactive since 9-98,Now Gated.
• D-24, History-Began diving 12-85, one vehicle found, Inactive since 12-85, No longer dive.
• T-8,   History-Began diving 7-87, one vehicle found, Inactive since 9-12-09
• T-10, History-Began diving 7-86, two vehicles found, Inactive since 4-92
• D-28, History-Began diving 4-98, four vehicles found, Inactive, site now back filled with dirt
• T-9,   History-Began diving 6-86, ten vehicles found, Inactive since 9-20-08
• D-31, History-Began diving on 6-80, eighteen vehicles found, several cut-up vehicles, two quad runners, two rifles, one shotgun and one soda vending machine, Inactive since 9-07. Site now as of spring 2011 is gated with no access and marked no trespassing.
• D-34, History-Began diving 8-08, one vehicle found, no divers allowed now, private property

 Number of Vehicles found by year

• 1976- 3
• 1977- 0
• 1978- 0
• 1979 -0
• 1980- 1
• 1981- 0
• 1982- 0
• 1983- 0
• 1984- 1
• 1985- 7
• 1986- 8
• 1987- 6
• 1988- 7
• 1989- 1
• 1990- 3
• 1991- 7
• 1992- 7
• 1993- 0
• 1994- 1
• 1995- 2
• 1996- 0
• 1997- 15
• 1998- 27
• 1999- 6
• 2000- 3
• 2001- 0
• 2002- 3
• 2003- 3
• 2004- 1
• 2005- 2
• 2006- 2
• 2007- 3
• 2008- 6
• 2009- 4
• 2010- 1
• 2011- 1
• 2012- 0

This Website is copyrighted by Lindsey Baine. Permission to use any information printed or photographed must be granted in writing by the author Lindsey Baine. He can be reached at lindseypbaine@gmail.com