PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police have recovered a vehicle that went into the Schuylkill River early Tuesday morning, the third such incident to happen in a month.
It happened on Kelly Drive near the Girard Avenue Bridge around 2:30 a.m. Jamil Wright told our partners at NBC10 he was in a parking lot when a white Honda CR-V drove into the river.
“I was just sitting in my car and I heard a boom. I turned around and I [saw] the car floating,” he said, adding he saw it sink. “The rear end was up, then the hazard lights were on, then it dropped low.”
Wright said he called 911, but never saw the driver. Police do not believe the driver was in the compact SUV when it went into the water.
The Philadelphia Police Marine Unit arrived on the scene, with dive crews using a drone to pinpoint the vehicle’s location before getting into the water, while keeping passersby clear of the search site.
Officer Ryan Graves was one of the divers who ultimately discovered the CR-V underwater.
“Once we locate the vehicle, we go down and tie a reference line on it. That makes it easy for us to get back and forth from land to the vehicle. We get down there, hook a shackle and cable around the axle," he explained. Police were ultimately able to attach a tow cable to the vehicle and pull it out of the river.
It was on Aug. 16 in the same spot when a black BMW reversed into the river. The driver of that car was never found.
Another incident on Aug. 28 saw a car drive into the river just past the Columbia Avenue Bridge and rowing grandstand. Police say a couple inside the parked car accidentally shifted it into drive, but got out of the car before it went into the water.
Lt. Andrew Napoli of the Marine Unit says there is no sign the incidents were connected.
“All three incidents are different in nature, so there isn't any one modus operandi,” he said. “They're just different occurrences.”
UPDATE: A previous version of this article described the vehicle as a “white Jeep.” Police have discovered it to be a Honda CR-V.