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Authorities in California revealed new details about a car that was discovered buried in the yard of a $15 million mansion in Silicon Valley. KTVU reported that the vehicle was a Mercedes 560 SL that was reported stolen in 1992.
Police believe the car was buried around the same time it was stolen.
Work crews uncovered the car buried about four to five feet underground during a landscaping project. The car had a personalized license plate, which allowed authorities to trace it back to its owner, Johnny Bocktune Lew.
Lew previously lived on the property with his family during the 1990s.
Lew, who died in 2015, had a lengthy criminal history. He was convicted of murder in the 1960s, but the conviction was tossed two years later after an appeal. In 1977, Lew was convicted of attempted murder and spent three years behind bars. He was also arrested in 1999 for insurance fraud.
While investigators haven't determined why the car was buried, a neighbor told KTVU she thinks Lew may have hidden it as part of an insurance scam.
"He probably just wanted insurance money, would be my guess," Cathy Consani told KTVU. "But we don't know. We don't know if the car has anything in it - it's got cement in it."