Divers to pull out cars submerged in lake, may hold clues to 3 girls’ 1974 disappearance

After discussing and planning for years, a group of volunteers have accumulated enough money to pay trained divers to lift three vehicles out of a Fort Worth, Texas, lake, which may hold clues to the disappearance of three girls.

On December 23, 1974, Lisa Renee Wilson (pictured right), 14, and Julie Moseley (pictured left), 9, disappeared from the former Seminary South Shopping Center (now known as now La Gran Plaza) off of 4200 South Freeway in Fort Worth.

Rusty Arnold’s sister, 17-year-old Rachel Trlica (pictured center) disappeared along with the girls after a day of Christmas shopping at the mall. It’s something her big brother has never forgotten, according to Texas Monthly.

When the girls’ failed to come, police began searching for them and found Rachel’s car at the mall parking lot, with recently-purchased gifts loaded inside. After thousands of leads and numerous searches over the years, the case still remains a mystery.

Arnold created a Facebook group as a way to discuss the girls’ disappearance with others, and think of ways to help solve the case. The group decided to start a fundraiser to pay highly-trained divers to pull the vehicles out of Burger’s Lake in northwest Fort Worth.  .

“At the same time the girls went missing, we believe the vehicle he was driving also disappeared,” Arnold told Texas Monthly on Sunday. “We sat around coming up with theories, and we discovered that the person of interest lived within five miles of Benbrook Lake at the time. It’s a hunch.”

Together, the group raised $10,000. The divers, who did a test dive last Friday, are set the pull the vehicles from the lake on September 22. Arnold stated that since there wasn’t enough evidence for police to help with the vehicles, he had to hire outside sources for assistance.

“We plan to pull all three of them out in September,” Arnold added.

Yet, there is one vehicle in particular that Arnold is interested in. He told FOX that he thinks a person of interest in the case got rid of his vehicle shortly after the girls disappeared, which could belong to the possible suspect.

Aside from a hunch, Arnold didn’t specify how or why he thought the vehicle belonged to someone who could be involved in the case, but he did say he learned about the vehicles after a friend used a sonar, which picked up on them.

“We can’t just walk away,” Arnold told NBC DFW. “We have to turn over this stone. And if we don’t we’ll never know.”

“I’ll never give up. As long as there’s a breath in my body.”

[Feature Photo: Left to Right: Julie Ann Moseley, Rachel Trlica, and Lisa Renee Wilson/Forth Worth Police Department]