Body of Missing College Student Found In Submerged Car: Police

A missing Florida college student has been found dead in a submerged car, according to police.

Florida International University student Nick Alexander Diaz Ruiz, 20, was reported missing after he failed to return home from a party in south Miami at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 7, according to NBC6. Before Diaz Ruiz left the party he called his family to say that he would be home in Hialeah in a few hours.

Diaz Ruiz was last seen in a white vehicle travelling north on Southwest 63rd Court toward Southwest 56th Street.

Leo Diaz, Nick's father, told Telemundo 51 that he became concerned when his son failed to return from the party and he was unable to get a response when he tried to call his cell phone.

The concerned father added that he initially thought his son's cell battery had died and that he would call again later.

He told Telemundo 51 in Spanish: "At 4:30 a.m. we all left the house…and [we said] something has happened here and the anguish began, the ordeal began."

Police launched a search for the missing student and a Be On The Look Out, or B.O.L.O., bulletin with his picture and photos of his white car was issued, a report by Local10.com said.

Divers located Nick Diaz Ruiz's body inside a submerged car in a retention pond in southwest Miami-Dade at about 6:15 p.m. on Monday night.

Friends of Nick Diaz Ruiz had retraced his route and ultimately stumbled upon the police activity Monday evening, when his car was pulled out of the water with his body still inside.

NBC6 reported Nick Diaz Ruiz had been studying engineering at FIU and that he was only six months away from graduating.

Newsweek has contacted Miami-Dade police and the Florida Highway Patrol for comment via email.

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS), there are 1,718 open missing persons cases in Florida.

NamUS also stated that there were 2,056 resolved missing person cases in the Sunshine State.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year there are an estimated 4,000 fatal drownings, an average of 11 drowning deaths per day.

The CDC added that there are an estimated 8,000 nonfatal drownings across the U.S. each year.

In April, the body of California man Jacob VanZant, 24, was located months after he was reported missing.

VanZant was last seen on February 17 when he was last seen leaving a sushi restaurant in his hometown of Lodi.

But underwater search volunteers Adventures With Purpose found VanZant's car in March and his family members later confirmed a body in the car was his.