Four vehicles pulled out of the St. Joseph River

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Crews pulled four vehicles out of the St. Joseph River on Tuesday after a group of fishermen spotted one right underneath their boat.

Originally, the men fishing only spotted one vehicle, but crew members discovered three additional vehicles that were submerged in the river near a boat launch by IUSB.

“We come to our normal spot where, we pull up to fish, we pulled up something on our graphs that looked very interesting, causing our graphs have side imaging. So, we spot locked, which means it locks you in place, and we were fishing it, and as soon as the wind died you could see it plain as day. It was probably about foot and a half maybe two foot underwater,” one South Bend resident said.

ICO SCUBA divers and personnel with the South Bend Fire Department worked to recover the vehicles.

The salvage operation is part of a multi-day plan to remove multiple vehicles at two sites along the river. 

At the close of operations on Tuesday, the South Bend Police Department was investigating any possible criminal charges that could be associated with the vehicles that were found. 

The Fire Department and Indiana Conservation Officers will continue to remove vehicles from the river in other locations in the coming weeks.