Authorities continue to investigate how multiple vehicles became submerged in the Missouri River near Jefferson City.
Three vehicles on Wednesday were found submerged in the Missouri River near the Noren River Access in North Jefferson City. The story behind how one those vehicles came to be there is believed to have been put together.
Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said his office was notified Wednesday morning of a suspicious incident along Route Z northeast of Fulton. Items of personal property were located that belonged to a man from rural Boone County, and suspicious circumstances warranted further investigation, Chism said.
Subsequently, deputies from the Boone County Sheriff's Department went to the man's residence, which led authorities to start a missing person investigation.
As the investigation was underway, Jefferson City Police Department officers responded to the river access, where they determined a vehicle had gone into the river and was submerged.
While JCPD officers were canvassing the area on foot, they came upon a man near the riverbank who Chism said was "in obvious medical distress." Callaway County investigators confirmed he was the missing Boone County man. He was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Missouri Highway Patrol's Marine Division personnel located the man's vehicle late Wednesday afternoon and removed it from the river.
"It has been determined the man voluntarily left his Boone County residence, drove to the Fulton area, discarded items of personal property, and ultimately drove to the river access, and there he drove his vehicle into the river," Chism said.
Of the other two vehicles found, one was an SUV that had been reported stolen out of Holts Summit in 2019.
"Our department took a report of vehicle that was broken down or ran out of gas on an area highway," said Holts Summit Police Chief Kyle McIntyre. "When the owner came back to where he left the vehicle, it was gone. It was listed as stolen, and we hadn't had any information about it until Wednesday when they found it. We have no details about how it got there. It's been in the water for so long we're not sure how much evidence could be left inside."
Local authorities did not have any further information Thursday regarding the third vehicle located Wednesday.
"That vehicle has yet to be pulled out," said JCPD spokesman Lt. David Williams. "The crews at the scene couldn't get to it due to the conditions around the vehicle, so how to get it out is yet to be determined. The river is low right now, so we want to get it out soon."