Missing Port Orange teacher's car found. What we know about how Robert Heikka was found

BREAKING UPDATE: The remains found in the vehicle were identified by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Search crews over the weekend solved the disappearance of a Creekside Middle School teacher who went missing more than two years ago, according to a detailed Facebook post shared by the Port Orange Police Department.

The original post, made by the nonprofit Sunshine State Sonar Search Team, explained what led to the discovery of Robert Heikka's vehicle, where it was found and why it wasn't located during earlier searches.

Heikka, who was 70 when he went missing, failed to attend work on Oct. 26, 2020. Concerned coworkers contacted police after they could not find the longtime teacher at his Waters Edge home.

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What led to the discovery of Robert Heikka's vehicle Saturday?

Sunshine State Sonar's crew, along with Recon Dive Recovery and Port Orange Police, decided recently to return to the area where Heikka's cellphone last pinged, the post states.

Sunshine State Sonar and Recon Dive Recovery joined forces on the second anniversary of Heikka's disappearance and reached out to police about plans for searches.

Crews spent the next seven months conducting a 30-mile-long ground search and using sonar on more than 70 water bodies between Heikka's Port Orange home and Orlando, according to the post.

Where was the missing teacher's car found?

A social media post from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office on Saturday afternoon stated that Heikka's vehicle, a 2012 Chevrolet Impala with a Florida tag of KRZ-I78, was found in a canal near New Smyrna Beach, not far from the South Tomoka Wildlife Management Area and less than 6 miles from Heikka's home.

Specifically, the car was upright, and its roof partially exposed, in about 4 feet of water in the 4200 block of Pioneer Trail, about 75 feet from the roadway, according to search crews.

The post states the night before he failed to show up to work, Heikka lost control of his vehicle and drove through 75 feet of brush and trees and into the small canal.

Why didn't search crews locate Heikka's car sooner?

Previous searches in the area where crews found the Chevrolet Impala hadn't yielded anything.

Crews found the small canal during a ground search last November but didn't believe they would find anything given the distance from the road and the dense brush, according to the nonprofit's post. Crews found the canal's water level dropped by 50% since their last visit, so they used a special piece of sonar equipment to take another look.

As of Monday morning, officials had yet to formally confirm the identity of the person whose remains were located inside the car.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Missing teacher Robert Heikka's vehicle located. Here's what we know