OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — When divers located the 1927 Chevrolet of Russel and Blanch Warren deep beneath the surface of Lake Crescent, Dan Warter of Seattle was immediately intrigued.
His fascination grew as he dove to the location to see it for himself.
And other people’s interest in the decades-old mystery was apparent as well.
Inside the Seattle dive shop where Warter works, onlookers studied news articles about the young couple’s 1929 disappearance and the 2002 discovery of their car, which ended years of speculation about their fate.
“Every time a person came in, they were just glued to the story,” Warter said.
“It seemed like this was an amazing story that people wanted to hear.”
Now, Warter is putting the family’s story on film with his first documentary, “The Warrens: A Lake Crescent Mystery.”
On March 20, Warter and DCS Films will premiere his 55-minute film in Seattle.
He originally planned the event for the public, but friends and relatives of those involved in the Warrens’ plight quickly filled up the available seats.
He may show the film again for the public at a later date.
Disappeared in July 1929
The documentary tells the story of Russel, 35, and his wife, 33, who disappeared July 3, 1929, as they traveled west along an unpaved road — now U.S. Highway 101 — around Lake Crescent to their Bogachiel logging camp.
Russel had picked up Blanch from a Port Angeles hospital where she had been a patient, and the couple purchased a new washing machine and some groceries before heading home to their two sons, 13-year-old Frank and 11-year-old Charles.
But the couple never made it.
Their car apparently plunged into the chilly blue water off Ambulance Point, also known as Meldrim Point, sank almost 200 feet, and remained hidden for 73 years, in spite of several investigations.