Buried Car Winner Died In 1979

The 1957 Plymouth Belvedere that had been buried since 1957 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, would have been won by a man who died in 1979. Raymond E. Humbertson came extremely close to the correct population for Tulsa, officials revealed. Unfortunately, he and his wife had no children (the wife died in 1988).

When the car was buried in 1957, more than 800 people submitted guesses on what Tulsa's population — which was around 250,000 in 1957 — would be in 2007. Guesses ranged from zero to 2 billion, but Raymond E. Humbertson's guess of 384,743 was only slightly off the official U.S. Census count of 382,457.

Tulsa officials announced Friday that Humbertson had won the two-door hardtop Belvedere that drew international attention when it was pulled from the vault on June 15.

His nephew, Donald Humbertson of Woodbridge, Va., said that Raymond Humbertson died of cancer at age 57 and his wife, Margaret Humbertson, died in 1988. Raymond and Margaret Humbertson had no children, their nephew said.

Raymond Humbertson's closest living relatives are two elderly sisters in Maryland, Donald Humbertson said.

The Oklahoma Centennial Commission will have a trust company speak with the Humbertson family about the family's wishes for the car, centennial events co-chairwoman Sharon King Davis said Saturday.

Kind of a sad end to the whole thing. The car, of course, is a mess since the vault was full of water - for quite a long while judging by the look of the car. Earlier posts here and here.