The discovery of a rental car submerged deep beneath the surface of Lake Wakatipu has ended a three-year mystery, police say.
The vehicle, a Budget rental car, was found lying in 14m of water by recreational divers on Saturday. It appeared the vehicle had plunged off the Devils Staircase section of State Highway 6 and into the lake.
Detective Sergeant Grahme Bartlett said checks had since confirmed it was the rental car hired by Korean tourist Young Seok Chang (31), who disappeared on October 6, 2004.
Mr Chang's body was found washed up near Kingston almost a month after his disappearance, along with part of a front bumper and other wreckage from the car.
Det Sgt Bartlett said it was always known the vehicle had disappeared into the lake, but finding the vehicle was virtually impossible without an approximate crash site. No accident point was ever found.
Saturday's discovery provided some finality to the case, even though the dead man's ashes had been returned to his parents, Det Sgt Bartlett said.
"We have never ever known clearly where the vehicle went off the road. Yes, it's good ultimately to finalise,'' he said.
The two divers who found the car also discovered a motorbike in the same location, Det Sgt Bartlett said. Checks had since confirmed the motorbike had been reported stolen.
A decision would be made today about whether to raise the wrecks, he said.
The rental car had long been written off the company's books, and recovering it would depend on the likely cost of the exercise, involving divers and a crane, and whether anything would be gained.
"It would appear to have crashed down the bank and over a barrier and into the lake,'' he said.
"There's nothing suspicious that we were ever aware of in relation to the accident".
