PALM HARBOR, Fla. — The family of teenage twins who disappeared in 1979 said they hope the discovery of a car in the Lake Tarpon Canal earlier this week can help them finally get answers about what happened to them. 

"I can't tell you what it's been like living 44 years without knowing where my sisters went and what happened to them," said Paula Hovley, of Panama City Beach.

What You Need To Know

  • Patty and Peggy McDaniel were 17 years old when they disappeared in 1979

  • Family members said they were told by law enforcement the girls were last seen in Pompano Beach in a white Chevy Vega

  • Sunshine State Sonar told Spectrum News a car found in the Lake Tarpon Canal recently is likely a 1970s Chevy Vega, but it has not been linked to the McDaniels' case

  • Read previous coverage here

Hovley was just 13 years old when her sisters, Patty and Peggy McDaniel, then 17, disappeared. She remembers them as fun, loving, and kind.

"They were so gifted and so talented, and they were just beautiful," said the girls' mother, Joyce Rivituso.

Rivituso said the last time the family heard from Patty and Peggy was in a letter from August of 1979.

'"They said, 'Mama, we're in a situation we can't get out of. We want to come home.' And I told them to go straight to the airport, because I wrote them back that day, and I said, 'Go to the airport. Call me,'" Rivituso said.

She never got a response. Rivituso and Hovley said at the time, the twins were living with their father and stepmother in Live Oak while Rivituso and their siblings were in New Jersey.

"The guys that they were hanging out with were grooming them for prostitution and human trafficking, but we didn't know that at the time. It came to us later on through talking to people," Hovley said.

According to Hovley, the men involved got the girls away from their father and to Pompano Beach. That's where she said law enforcement told the family they were last seen, riding in a white Chevy Vega.

Sunshine State Sonar told Spectrum News that the car found in the canal earlier this week was so brittle from being underwater for what was likely decades that the vehicle could not be pulled to the surface.

Divers with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office were only able to bring up a few tires. But Sunshine State Sonar said what was able to be retrieved points to the car being a 1970s Chevy Vega.

"I got so sick. I almost collapsed when I heard the news," said Rivituso.

Sunshine State Sonar said there is no evidence that the vehicle found in the canal is connected to Patty and Peggy's case and no remains were found. Rivituso and Hovley said they haven't been contacted by law enforcement regarding the car. They said they're still hoping it could end up bringing closure - even if just by reminding people about the girls and their case. They ask anyone who knows what happened or can provide information to come forward.

"We need closure. My mom is now 83 years old, and she's been hanging onto life just to find out what has happened to these girls. To have closure for her before it's her time to go would mean more to me than me finding out," Hovley said.

“The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation into the disappearances of the McDaniels remains open and active. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Broward Sheriff’s Office or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.”