UGH!! Trunk won't open

I think you could drill like a 1/2in hole in the center of the plywood panel, and insert a flat-blade screwdriver with about a 2ft long shank, find the center of the latch and gIve it a 90deg twist to release it. I bought a screwdriver like that, years ago to keep me from having to crawl in the trunk on regular (not pass-through) trunks. Afterward you can plug the hole with a body plug from the hdwe store.
Funny story, at my old house, the driveway was at a significant grade from the street. I removed my back seats in my 64 dart, and I was crawling in my trunk to unlatch it with a regular flat-bladed screwdriver. Evidently, I did not have the pkg brake applied(or set well enough), and I felt it rolling backward into the semi busy street in front of my house. I nearly filleted my back trying to back my body out of there, with those sharp-edged diagonal braces behind the rear seat back. That's when and why I bought that long a$$ shanked screwdriver.