Missing Woman Found Alive Inside vehicle Submerged in Lake

A missing woman was found alive when she was pulled from her Jeep, which was almost completely submerged in a lake.

The vehicle's roof was spotted poking above the waterline by a fisherman working on the south side of Lake o' the Pines in Marion County, Texas, on Friday morning. But when deputies and a local wrecker service arrived to tow the black Jeep back to shore, they discovered that someone was still moving inside the car.

A dramatic rescue ensued as the fisherman, deputies, and a wrecker crew all worked together to save the woman, who was pictured being hauled to safety by two men on a small boat. It later transpired that she had previously been reported as a missing person, meaning that police were already looking for her before the Jeep was first sighted.

The woman was taken to hospital after her ordeal, according to the authorities, who have not yet released details about her condition. She has not been publicly identified, and it is not clear how long she had been missing before her discovery in the water.

Newsweek has reached out to the Marion County Sheriff's Office by email for further information and comment.

Photos shared by the sheriff's office on Facebook show how the Jeep was almost totally submerged, with just the roof and part of the windows visible above the waterline. Another image showed two men dragging the woman out of the water on to their boat as the vehicle bobbed next to them.

A statement accompanying the pictures read: "On Friday morning 04/07/2023 the Marion County Sheriff's Office dispatcher received a call from a fisherman. The fisherman stated he was on the south side of Lake o' the Pines in south west Marion County, Texas. He reported observing a black jeep submerged about forty feet from the Woody's Camp boat ramp.

"Deputies arrived at the scene as well as a local wrecker service. As the jeep was being prepared for removal from the water, it was discovered a person was still in the vehicle and moving.

"With the assistance of the wrecker service, fisherman, and Marion County deputies, a female was safely rescued from the submerged jeep. EMS responded to the location and transported the female to a local hospital.

"During the incident, it was determined the woman was listed as a missing person from the Longview Texas Police Department."

Searches for missing people are made particularly difficult when victims disappear in water, because bodies and vehicles can remain submerged for long periods of time.

Receding water levels at Lake Mead, which lies on the border between Nevada and Arizona, have exposed several bodies recently, with one murder victim found stuffed inside a barrel in a crime dating back to the 1970s.

On Saturday the search for a missing schoolteacher appears to have ended in tragedy some three years after his disappearance after Robert Heikka's car was found at the bottom of a canal near Daytona Beach with a body inside. The water level had gradually dropped, which finally revealed part of the vehicle.

And missing Lotus drummer Chuck Morris and his 20-year-old son Charley were also found dead at the weekend, some 24 days after the pair went missing during a kayaking trip in Arkansas.