TERRE HAUTE — Surrounded by family members, friends and curious onlookers, Merv and Doreena Javins stood near the Wabash River on Friday, waiting for the first real news on their son since he disappeared more than five years ago.
As she paced the east bank of the Wabash River at the south end of Fairbanks Park, Doreena summed up her feelings: “I’m a nervous wreck.”
Scott Javins, then a 20-year-old student at Indiana State University, went missing May 24, 2002, after leaving a party at a friend’s house in the area of 22nd Street and First Avenue in Terre Haute. He called his mother around 2 a.m. and said he was on his way home. He was never seen or heard from again.
At least six members of the Indiana State Police Area 3 Dive Team converged at the river Friday morning in response to a news tip that Scott Javins’ car was in the river. Divers discovered a vehicle and put into motion efforts to recover it. Around 3 p.m., they attached a crane cable and straps to the submerged car.
For what seemed an eternity, the shiny wetsuits of the divers glistened as they moved around and under the water. Dozens of onlookers watched quietly, expecting to see the car at any moment.
Doreena Javins, standing near yellow police tape as events unfolded, said under her breath, “I’m gonna bust through this.”
Police had cordoned off the area, keeping a growing crowd of observers about 100 yards from where the divers were working.
The tension broke somewhat around 4:30 p.m., when the muck-covered car being hoisted by the crane slowly emerged.
As the car was being hauled up, the parents went from one news camera to the next, comparing the photo they carried of their son’s car with the video images from the recovery.
It was difficult to find any resemblance to the silver paint job of Scott Javins’ 2002 Honda Civic Si, but the muddy vehicle was obviously a hatchback, matching the shape of the missing auto.
Later, police confirmed the vehicle identification number matched the VIN on Javins’ title.
After family members, including Merv and Doreena Javins, were escorted beyond the police tape and into a nearby building, a tow truck drove past the crowds, hauling the tarp-covered car on a trailer. The car was taken to a secure bay at the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, where it will be processed today by a forensic pathologist.
Merv Javins, during a telephone interview Friday evening, said, “We kind of feel, I wouldn’t say relieved, I would say just numb, from the finding of the automobile. We still don’t know whether Scott was in the car or not.
“I would like to thank everybody for the support that they’ve given us over the last five and a half years nearly, and at least now we have a starting point,” he said.
“This is long from being over,” he said, “but it’s a starting point to find out what happened.”
Deb McKee Kelly can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
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'Long from being over:' Merv Javins says he and wife are 'numb'
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