Deputies Search River For Vehicle

The search for a vehicle that may have crashed into the Kalamazoo River will continue, today.

Calhoun County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call, at 4:50 AM Saturday morning, that a vehicle had left the roadway, near Dickman Road near Capital Avenue and entered the river. A witness said that a vehicle had passed them at a high rate of speed and then left the road, disappearing into the river. Deputies found evidence that supported the story and, with the assistance of the Battle Creek Fire Department and Battle Creek City Police, searched the river banks for approximately one mile, but were not able to locate the missing vehicle. A Michigan State Police helicopter was then called in to help search the river from above, again with negative results.

The river at the crash site was high and the water was traveling at approximately 20 MPH. The dive team sent divers into the water at the end of the canal, where the Battle Creek River meets the Kalamazoo River. The currents were too strong in this area and the divers had to be pulled out when the pressure from the water restricted breathing. Small boats from the Battle Creek Fire Department and Emmett Township Department of Public Safety were used with divers, in them, probing the river bottom with large probes.  A water sonar unit was then brought in by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office Dive Team to search the area.

After about thirteen hours of searching, deputies called off the search for the day at approximately 6:00 PM due to cold temperatures and darkness setting in.  Yesterday's search covered approximately one mile of the river, in water depths of about eight to twenty feet.

The search will resume today after daybreak to cover further down river, using boats and divers.