A stolen Dodge Caravan that was found submerged at the bottom of Peanut Lake on Oct. 4 is towed out of the water. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-October 6, 2010
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
A red Dodge Caravan that turned up in Peanut Lake on the morning of Oct. 4 had been stolen the night before, said Osoyoos RCMP Const. Kelly Baker at the scene.
Osoyoos Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Jones was called to the scene at about 10:30 a.m. where there was a barely-visible red hue in the middle of the south end of the lake.
Jones called the RCMP, then spoke to a man who lives near the lake who reported seeing the vehicle.
“I was up at 5:15 (a.m.) and I saw this eerie glow in the lake,” said the neighbour who asked the Osoyoos Times not to use his name. “It looked like a pair of headlights and a taillight.”
But it took the neighbour several hours before he decided to call in the incident.
“I thought it was a prank,” he said.
It was unclear at the scene if the vehicle ended up in the water by accident or on purpose. A red Caravan had been stolen the night before and Baker confirmed the vehicle removed from the water was the same vehicle.
Jones called in fire department member Ryan McCaskill who is a diver.
He went in to the water and out to the vehicle, confirmed there was no one inside and later hooked up a tow rope to the van.
As the van was pulled from the lake, water spilled out the open driver’s side window.
All the doors were closed.
It didn’t take long for members of the public to congregate on the perimeter of the 89th Street scene, which was blocked off by RCMP vehicles.
Diane Knight, who lives on 89th Street directly across from where the RCMP think the vehicle went into the water, said she understands this may have been a situation in which the vehicle was intentionally put into the lake.
But if it wasn’t, it’s a prime illustration of some major concern she has about the sharp corner.
“Somebody’s going to die,” Knight said. “People speed on it (the corner) constantly. I have a three-year-old that’s going to get killed.”
A couple months ago a sign pointing out the 30-km/h speed limit was put up.
But it hasn’t helped, Knight said, and last week she spoke directly with the mayor about her concerns.
He seemed sympathetic, Knight said and she hopes to see something change.
She said she didn’t hear anything last night or this morning that sounded like a crash, but her dog was barking at 5:30 a.m.
No further details about the stolen van were available before press time.
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