Car stolen in Idaho found in Oregon in Snake River. How it was reeled in
A sedan stolen in Caldwell was found and recovered about 65 miles north and 15 feet underwater in a remote part of the Snake River along the Idaho-Oregon state line.
The search-and-rescue team in Baker County, Oregon, responded on Monday afternoon to a report that a vehicle was submerged in the river about 6 1/2 miles north of the Spring Recreation Site outside the town of Huntington, population 500. Idaho Power provided a submersible remotely-operated vehicle to home in on the waterlogged car, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Members of the Baker County team set up a system of ropes and rappelled themselves down a steep embankment off the road to access the river, police said. Over nearly three hours, the team then brought the vehicle — a light blue 1997 Honda Accord — back to shore, an agency spokesperson told the Idaho Statesman.
Halfway Towing and Repair out of Baker City helped reel in the car back to the roadway.
Through its investigation, the Sheriff’s Office determined that the vehicle had been reported stolen in June out of Canyon County, the spokesperson said. The Accord was found in the river stripped of parts and unoccupied, according to the release.
The sheriff encouraged anyone with more information concerning the car or how it ended up in the Snake River to contact Deputy Daniel Downing at ddowning@bakercountyro.gov or (541) 523-6415, ext. 0.
