Car found submerged in Cape Coral canal; No victims found

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — A car was found partially submerged in a Cape Coral canal, prompting an investigation by local authorities on Saturday morning.

Crews responded after receiving a call about the vehicle in the water. The Cape Coral Fire Department says no victims were found, and the Cape Coral Police Department is now looking into how it happened.

A routine morning walk turned into confusion, fear and police presence for neighbors in the area. John Macbride was walking his dog when he made the discovery.

"I was walking my dog this morning I went down and I was looking, because down on the lake, you can usually take a look at the manatees back in the lake, and it was just crystal clear and smooth," Macbride said. "And so when I got there, I took a look to the right, and it was a car just the back was sticking out of the water."

Neighbors say they didn't expect their Saturday to look like this. Eva Kaleel, a neighbor, described her reaction to the scene.

"My reaction was weird, yeah, because it's quiet neighborhood, very quiet," Kaleel said.

Macbride echoed the sentiment. "It was very, it was very weird," Macbride said.

Neighbors say they didn't hear or see anything unusual. Dawne Braco, another neighbor, was surprised by the lack of noise.

"It was interesting, because we didn't hear anything, and this is such a quiet neighborhood," Braco said. "It's a very calm, quiet neighborhood."

Macbride says he called the police, fearful someone was stuck in the car. "I was hoping nobody wasn't, you know, dead in the car," Macbride said. "But apparently there wasn't, which is very, very lucky. But they came, continued picking everything up, and then they came with a crane and picked it up and left."

The Cape Coral Police Department says after divers searched the car and canal, they found no victims. For Braco, who captured pictures and videos of the scene, it was a relief.

"It was scary, but I'm just so happy and blessed that nobody was, as far as we know, nobody was harmed, and nobody was in the car," Braco said.

WINK News reached out to the Cape Coral Police Department for more information on the investigation.