OHP Suspending Efforts To Recover Sunken Vehicles In Rogers County

Troopers trying to recover vehicles from the bottom of the McClellan-Kerr Navigation channel in Rogers County say they are giving up that effort, for now.

Wednesday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled out a 2000 model Chevy Z-71 pickup, which they said was stolen from Broken Arrow in 2006. Several other vehicles are reportedly submerged in the water, but the OHP need to bring in more equipment to recover them.

OHP said several of the vehicles are in silt so thick it is acting like concrete. Others are under water nearly a tenth of a mile downstream, where most wreckers cannot go. They said debris has also collected on the cars, making it unsafe for divers to work near them.

The highway patrol's Marine Enforcement Rescue and Recovery unit will work at a later date with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring in a side lift crane to help lift the vehicles more safely and more easily.

When that happens will depend on the availability of the equipment and the weather and terrain conditions, OHP said.

11/13/2013 Related Story: OHP Focuses On Recovering Vehicles From Waterways