On Sunday morning at approximately 7:55 a.m. on December 16, 2007, the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company was alerted for a submerged vehicle in the water off John J. Williams Highway in the vicinity of Holly Lake. Past Chief Horace Jackson was serving as duty officer for the incident and assumed control of the responding apparatus. It was identified that a vehicle was traveling on John J. Williams Highway (State Route #24) and departed from the roadway surface for an unknown reason. The vehicle left the roadway and become airborne before landing in a prong of water that feeds into Guinea Creek near the development of Herring Creek Estates. The specific time of the incident is unknown and the occupant(s) of the vehicle are unknown as well because the vehicle operator was gone on arrival of emergency responding apparatus. Duty Officer Jackson immediately requested that Indian River respond with the inflatable vessel and had personnel don the submersible cold water suits. All responding apparatus were requested to stage along the shoulder of John J. Williams Highway in preparation for the responding vessel. Safety lines were prepared for the vessel and personnel that would enter the water. Other personnel were requested to briefly evaluate the immediate vicinity to ascertain potential occupants of the vehicle. Specific volunteers were assigned to operate the vessel, reach the vehicle, and evaluate the interior of the vehicle for occupants. This search effort did not identify any reasons for concern with the interior passenger compartment. An additional search effort was requested with the vessel to travel down the prong to identify potential departure paths of the vehicle’s occupant(s). This search did not reveal any specific elements of concern as well. The towing company arrived and requested assistance of the personnel in the water to assist with the extrication of the vehicle from the waterway. Personnel assisted with attaching the tow cables through the rear “C” posts to allow the towing operator to pull the vehicle closer to the highway surfaces. Upon completion of the pulling exercise, the submerged personnel attached cables to allow for the hoisting of the vehicle from the prong onto the roadway surfaces. John J. Williams Highway was closed for the duration of this incident. The Delaware State Police are investigating the incident and no additional information is available. You may review additional information at: http://www.wgmd.com/newspost/fullnews.php?id=6587