Swimmer finds stolen car in the bottom of Prospect Lake in Saanich

A swimmer in Prospect Lake came upon an unusual sight on Thursday, finding a small car fully submerged underwater near the Echo Drive boat launch.

The swimmer notified the Saanich Police, who brought in the dive team to confirm the discovery, and the black Fiat was pulled out of the water on Friday.

“People who were in the water came and looked and were very surprised to see a car coming out of the lake,” said Cst. Markus Anastasiades of the Saanich Police.

The Forensic Identification Unit (FUI) photographed and took video of the scene, and local company Totem Towing came down to help with the extraction of the car.

“We also learned the vehicle was stolen and had been reported stolen months ago back in March of this year out of Saanich,” said Const. Anastasiades. “Based on the accumulation of sludge and algae, it’s believed the car has been in the lake for some time.”

Saanich Police say there were minor amounts of “fluids” that had leaked from the car, and Saanich Fire was called in to assist and help clean up at the dock.

Const. Anastasiades says a window was smashed out of the car, and there was significant body damage. He says the police will review the footage taken by the FUI to help determine if the damage occurred before the car entered the lake, while it was submerged, or during its recovery.

<“The boat launch has quite a gradual slope, and all of a sudden there’s a rock and it suddenly drops. Certainly, we are looking at the recovery, but taking in anything that could be suspicious,” said the officer.

For now, the owner of the vehicle has been notified, as well as ICBC, as investigators continue to look into the incident.

“Were trying to piece together the info, who, what and when this vehicle was submerged in the lake, and why,” said Const. Anastasiades.

The Prospect Lake boat launch off of Echo Drive is in a public and highly used location, and the Saanich Police are hoping anyone with information about the car in the lake with come forward.

If you know anything about this incident, you are asked to call the Saanich Police Department’s non-emergency line at 250-475-4321. If you’d like to give information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Moments before the care was pulled from the lake by Totem Towing

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