A car that apparently sunk in the Salem Reservoir early Sunday morning after running off a Bryan Memorial Park Natural Trail road was recovered Thursday afternoon.
Salem Police Chief Sean Reynolds says an occupant of the car was apparently able to crawl out the driver’s side window. Police began looking for the car after the owner, 53-year-old Kimberly Lane of Effingham, was found walking on a nearby roadway soaking wet and screaming for help. A passerby had taken her to the nearby Salem Township Hospital Emergency Room for treatment.
An initial effort to locate the vehicle with a sonar device on Sunday night proved unsuccessful, but a further look on Thursday found the vehicle just a few feet underwater.
Once the location of the vehicle was marked by the boat operators, a dive team from the Fairfield Rural Fire Department was called. Two divers moved to the marked area and immediately found the submerged car. They then worked with a crew from Lander’s Towing to hook a line to the car to pull it out of the water. The car was then loaded onto a Lander’s flatbed truck and removed from the lake.
Reynolds says the investigation into the incident is continuing. He notes Lane claimed not to know who was driving or what lake they had actually driven into. The chief said it was a relief to confirm there was no one else in the vehicle.
Reynolds says Lane had just a few bumps and bruises when interviewed by Marion County Sheriff’s Deputies about the incident later in the day on Sunday.
Divers easily find the submerged car where it had been indicated by sonar images earlier in the day. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Ready to be pulled out of the reservoir by Landers Towing. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
Members of the Fairfield Rural Fire Department Diving Team and Landers Towing in Salem plan for the dive to find the car and then bring it out of the water. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
