(CNN) A curious 13-year-old boy discovered a vehicle in a lake in Canada last month, and helped solve the case of a woman who went missing 27 years ago.

The teenager, Max Werenka, was out on a boat ride in August on Griffin Lake near Revelstoke, British Columbia -- where his family runs a business renting out cabins -- when he spotted a vehicle underwater, his mother Nancy Werenka told CNN.

They initially assumed the vehicle was related to a 2009 incident when a vehicle crashed into the lake, so they didn't think much of it. Still, they mentioned it to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who happened to be visiting the next day, she said.

"We told him about the vehicle in the lake and said, 'why would they not have removed this car?'" Nancy Werenka said. "He said, 'Well, they did. What are you talking about?'"

The Revelstoke RCMP came to Griffin Lake on August 21 and went out on a boat to see the vehicle, but the angle of the sun made it difficult to see much underwater, Werenka said.

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