And they’re still not done…
Divers from the Virginia State Police Search and Recovery team removed 2 stolen cars dumped in the Blackwater River in Isle of Wight County on March 10. They used a method called side-scanning, which involves sonar, locating 3 vehicles, although they could only pull 2 from the water. It’s a scenario we’ve seen in many other waterways around the nation as governments and non-profit organizations have both crusaded to remove cars from their watery graves.
See more stories of cars pulled from bodies of water here.
The first vehicle pulled out of the river was a Ford F-150. No remains were found inside, thankfully, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes submerged cars are the product of a suicide or homicide. In this case, the truck was reported stolen in 2002.
A Plymouth was the second vehicle hoisted out of the water. While the model wasn’t mentioned in the report, it did state the vehicle was reported stolen back in 2004. The third car still in the river is possibly a Porsche, but sonar images don’t give a completely detailed view so that’s a guess. Police plan to make a return trip to pull it out.
Apparently appropriately named, the water in Blackwater River is so dense with sediment that it’s impossible for the divers to see much of anything. That means they have to feel around to locate the vehicles, with a coordinator using sonar to locate them and dropping a crab cage to mark their position in the water.
With the unclear water and the remoteness of the location, this section of Blackwater River is the perfect place for dumping a vehicle discretely. However, criminals who think their activity will go unnoticed now know police are wise to the trick.
While plenty of people theorize every car found submerged in water has a criminal story behind it, like insurance fraud, in this case we have confirmation both were stolen. It’s possible they were used to commit other crimes, then the thieves dumped them in the river to destroy evidence and throw police off their trail. Virginia State Police aren’t commenting on the details, so we’re simply left to speculate.
Source: 13 News Now
