A stolen car found in the Athabasca River was recovered on Sept. 5 in the late afternoon.
Athabasca RCMP staff Sgt. Brian Nicholls said his detachment received a call between 2:45-3 p.m. of a vehicle submerged in the river. Upon recovery, the vehicle matched the description of a vehicle that was stolen earlier that day from a residence in Boyle.
“Somebody reported it seeing it in the river,” he said “They thought it was weird, obviously, because cars aren’t supposed to drive in the river.”
He said he suspects the vehicle had been driven down to the river via a small path directly beside the bridge across the Athabasca River in the Town of Athabasca.
He added that it then probably floated for 100 metres up the river before filling up with water and coming to a stop.
“That’s where we think it went in, because there really is no where else it could have entered,” he said. “That would be complete speculation at this point, but that would be the only explanation that makes any sense.”
The vehicle – a black 2014 Hyundai Elantra – had been reported stolen from a Boyle residence earlier that morning. Nicholls says that it was stolen on Sept. 4 between 10:30 p.m. and 8 a.m. the next morning.
