ATHERTON, Calif. — Police are digging into why someone buried a stolen car in the yard of a multimillion-dollar Northern California home linked to one of San Joaquin County’s largest-ever insurance fraud schemes in the 1990s.
The convertible Mercedes Benz, filled with bags of unused concrete, was discovered Thursday by landscapers in the affluent town of Atherton in Silicon Valley, Atherton Mayor Rick DeGolia said, citing a statement from police.
Although cadaver dogs alerted to possible human remains on Thursday, none had been found more than 24 hours after technicians with the San Mateo County Crime Lab began excavating the car, DeGolia said.
Police believe the car was buried 4 to 5 feet deep in the 1990s – before the current owners bought the home – but Atherton Police Cmdr. Daniel Larsen would not say what led detectives to that conclusion.
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The unused bags of concrete were placed throughout the vehicle, though it was blanketed by dirt over the roof, Larsen said. The car was reported stolen in September 1992 in nearby Palo Alto, DeGolia said.
By Friday, the technicians had been able to excavate the passenger side of the convertible, which was buried with its top down. Cadaver dogs were again brought back to the house and again “made a slight notification of possible human remains,” DeGolia said.
Larsen said the dogs could be reacting to human remains, old bones,…
