VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach police said a body was found inside a car that drove into the water early morning Friday.
The person in the vehicle was identified as 26-year-old Jeconiah M. Westmoreland of Virginia Beach on Monday.
The Virginia Beach Police Department Dive Team Supervisor, Sergeant Brian Ricardo, said two witnesses told them the car drive down Firefall Drive into the water off Bold Ruler Drive.
That area is near Old Dam Neck Road.
Virginia Beach EMS Divison Chief Bruce Nedelka said it happened around 4:45 a.m. Ricardo said the incident is now a recovery effort.
At the scene, an orange buoy marked the car's location.
There are several emergency responders out at the accident including Virginia Beach police and fire crews. Marine patrol, EMS marine rescue teams, and fire department boats are also assisting in the recovery effort.
Nedelka said EMS used a sonar scanner to locate the car in the water. Police used a drone and took over the investigation.
Officers have to take the vehicle back to be examined before opening the doors.
Ricardo said these investigations take a while. Factors like warm weather, what witnesses saw and a lack of tire marks mean search and recovery doesn't move fast.
“There’s no physical evidence, then that’s what becomes problematic. Kind of what happened today," he said.
Ricardo added that the witnesses weren’t even sure they saw someone in the car when it drove by.
"We’d much rather have that person walking around right now standing, going, ‘Yeah, I drove my car until the lake' but unfortunately that’s not what we’re going to have today,"
Neighbors like Brenda Felton said the car in the water "kind of had me in tears at first. I was hoping that everything was OK.”
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