Recovered Stolen Vehicle

DATE & TIME:            07-18-2016 / 1007 hours                   

LOCATION:                Rockford Lake State Recreation Area (east side)        

OFFENSE:                   Recovered Stolen Vehicle / Stalking               

CASE #:                       2016-3671 / 2016-3674

On Monday, 07-18-2016 at approximately 10:08 am, a citizen called the Gage County Sheriff’s Office to report a vehicle partially submerged in the water on the east side of Rockford Lake State Recreation Area.  At the time of the call it was unknown if anyone was or had been inside the vehicle.

Deputies from the Gage County Sheriff’s Office responded to the lake and found a red 2008 Honda Pilot approximately fifteen feet from the shore, with the front wheels having water up to the middle of the tires.  It was discovered there was no one in the vehicle and a search of the immediate area did not locate anyone from the vehicle.

An investigator from the sheriff’s office telephoned one of the registered owners of the vehicle, a female from Wymore, Nebraska, and asked her about the Honda Pilot.  She stated she was currently out of the county, but she had dropped the vehicle off in Beatrice the previous day to have work done on it, and had intended to pick the vehicle up from there at noon on Monday.  She stated she had been told by the person she left the vehicle with that he had discovered it gone early that morning and assumed she had picked it up. 

The investigation at the scene indicates the vehicle was deliberately put into the lake with the intention of damaging the vehicle and was not a traffic accident.  The vehicle was possibly left in gear and proceeded down the hill and into the lake without a driver or other occupants in the vehicle.

The registered owner was advised to contact the Beatrice Police Department and make a report for the vehicle being stolen from an address in Beatrice.  The sheriff’s office initiated an investigation for stalking and the investigation is still active.

The vehicle was towed from the lake and taken to an impound lot where it was processed for evidence by an investigator from the sheriff’s office.  There is an undetermined amount of damage to the vehicle from water seeping into the passenger compartment.

Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson #903

Investigator T. Hanson #90310