The freighter SS Cotopaxi that went missing since 1925 has now been reportedly found at the bottom of the ocean about 35 miles from St. Augustine, Florida. Many people have been looking for it for decades and many speculated that it may have been lost in the Bermuda Triangle, that has been infamous for mysteriously making ships and planes missing. However, the ill-fated ship was identified and now the site is known as "The Bear Wreck" to divers and spearfishers, who were unaware of its history, as per CNN. Bermuda Triangle Mystery is Solved According to Scientists! Know What Caused Many Ships and Humans to Disappear. 

Michael Barnette first dove the wreck about 15 years ago and has been trying to identify it for a while. Barnette is a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and has identified dozens of shipwrecks and downed aeroplanes as an independent researcher. Barnette told CNN "I knew my heart that it was the Cotopaxi, but trying to prove it is something different. We didn't know 100% because we didn't have that smoking gun, we didn't have a bell with a name on it, or anything like that."

"The ship became a part of the Bermuda Triangle myth,'" said Chuck Meide of the Lighthouse Maritime Archaeological Maritime Program. The ship was missing important structural components and "unbeknownst to the captain and crew, they were sailing into a tropical storm," Meide said.

It was further understood the main cause behind the wreckage of the ship was the tropical storm. "Negligence, shoddy maintenance and bad weather," were deemed to be other reasons. The 250-foot (76-meters) SS Cotopaxi was sailing from Charleston, South Carolina, to Havana when it disappeared along with its 32-person crew. But a team of underwater explorers and maritime archaeologists have identified the wreckage of the ship about 35 nautical miles off the coast of St. Augustine.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2020 03:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).