MISSING 43 YEARS: Found Car Underwater w/Baby Seat (The Case of Donald and Otava)

Video Description

In this episode, Exploring with a Mission investigates two long-standing missing persons cases from Connecticut, both involving individuals who vanished without a trace decades apart. Please support Exploring with a Mission’s ongoing search efforts here: https://www.youtube.com/@exploringwithamission 🔍 Case 1: Donald Gatti Donald Gatti was 52 years old when he went missing from New Britain, Connecticut on November 5, 1982. He was 5'10" and weighed approximately 200 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. According to case records, he had a gambling problem, which may have been a factor in the disappearance. The case was entered into NamUs in 2009, nearly three decades later, highlighting how many older missing persons cases had limited documentation at the time they occurred. 🔍 Case 2: Otava Radek Otava Radek was 25 years old when he disappeared from Middletown, Connecticut on March 23, 1998. He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, black coat with red trim, and black and white pants while driving a gray 1985 Plymouth Reliant. He was between 5'9" and 5'10" and weighed 160-170 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He spoke very little English, which is noted in the case file, and may have been working in construction at the time of his disappearance. Authorities aren't really sure what happened in this case—there's speculation that he might have fled the country, but it's also possible something else occurred. 🚤 Connecticut River Search The team began the day focusing on the second case by searching along the Connecticut River as it runs through Middletown. They ran sonar through different sections of the river to check if the Reliant had gone into the water at any point along the route. The search included coverage of boat ramps and other areas where a vehicle could have potentially entered the river, whether by an accident off the road, or behind old factory locations in Middletown. They considered various scenarios including accidents, foul play, or self-harm when determining which locations to search. It took some time to ensure they had proper coverage of the area, but ultimately they didn't find anything related to the case during the river portion of the search. After finishing the river and factory area searches without results, the team moved on to a pond on the route to New Britain that could have been an accident location for either person. They were able to clear the pond using a sonar ball that read too short of a depth to make putting the full sonar setup in worth it. 🚗 Stolen Vehicle Discovery The team then headed to another pond located down the street from the first missing person's house in New Britain. This location made sense to check given its proximity to where he was last seen back in 1982. During the sonar scan, they picked up what appeared to be a vehicle target on the bottom of the pond. Diver Dan went down to investigate and confirmed it wasn't related to either case they were working on. While diving on the vehicle, Dan pulled a license plate and discovered a baby car seat in the back. It turned out to be a stolen or dumped car that had nothing to do with their investigation. They called local police to report the vehicle, and the local dive team came out to pull it after the team had already left the area to continue their searches. 📋 Results Neither missing person was found during the day's searches. The team covered quite a bit of ground including the Connecticut River, multiple boat ramps, factory areas, and two different ponds. While the searches didn't result in finding either person, the investigation brought some renewed attention back to these older cases that haven't had much activity in recent years. The first case has been unsolved for over 40 years now, and the second for more than 25 years. Both cases remain open with their respective local police departments. If you have any information that could help us bring answers to either case, or you want to tell us about a new case, please email our support team: [email protected] ➦ Share this video to SPREAD AWARENESS of the service AWP provides for FREE! ❤️.. JOIN THE AWP MOVEMENT ..❤️ (Get Videos Early)... ➤ http://bit.ly/AWP-Team-Member 🎯 Subscribe to AWP on YouTube (It's Free)...➤ http://bit.ly/SubAWP 👕 AWP Merchandise..➤ https://adventureswithpurpose.com 📌 Follow Us on Facebook... ➤ https://bit.ly/FollowAWP HOW IS AWP FUNDED?... ➤ https://youtu.be/wz1dCguO2y0 💔 WINDOW BREAKERS SAVE LIVES! 😢 A MUST-HAVE Safety Tool for ALL Drivers. https://adventureswithpurpose.com/products/window-breakers 🎬.. Watch Other Cases We've Solved ==================== SOLVED: Missing 23-years Underwater (Samantha Hopper, 22-month-old Daughter Courtney, Unborn Baby) https://youtu.be/isqd8OOcJpQ SOLVED: 💔 Missing 24-year-old Jacob VanZant Found https://youtu.be/xrHE70g7h4c SOLVED: How We FOUND Kiely Rodni: MURDER or ACCIDENT? https://youtu.be/bPwnDyW26gk #Missing #MissingPerson #ColdCase