Divers catch a Cougar
JOLIET -- The fire department dive team caught a big one with their new fishing gear Tuesday -- a 1992 Mercury Cougar.
Around 9:30 a.m. dive team members began their monthly practice from the west shore of the Des Plaines River north of Ruby Street.
(Michael R. Schmidt/Staff photographer)
The dive boat is now equipped with a Humminbird, which uses sonar to scan the river and find a submerged car or boat.
"It really is just high-tech fishing equipment. We can also see GPS and maps of the river on screen," said Capt. Ron Fox, the dive team leader. "Even though (the river) is so murky, we can hopefully locate things in a few minutes. The manufacturer claims we could count the fingers a diver was holding up."
Fox said it took the first diver a minute to locate what the sonar showed, the Cougar.
About a dozen police officers and firefighters watched from the shore as divers worked with a Rendel's tow truck driver to pull out the car. Some red paint was visible under the vegetation and muck covering the vehicle.
Through the open driver's window, police could see the mud that filled the car up to the steering wheel.
"(The debris makes) it a hit -or-miss kind of thing," said Battalion Chief LaRoy Aldridge. "If they hit it right on the button, it'll pop right up like you had the key."
But the mud kept the trunk from opening easily.
After attempting to pry the lid back as though they were opening a can, firefighters turned to the tow truck's heavy cable hook to open the trunk.
Inside the trunk were a two-liter bottle of Squirt, a bottle of motor oil and a stack of white cardboard with a picture of a shish-kabob, which police officer Michelle Martorelli identified as a cookbook.
Police examined the vehicle identification number and learned the car has not been reported stolen. The car is registered to a Joliet Township resident who last renewed the registration in June 2006.
Fox said it appears there are two other cars in the river that may be removed during today's dive team practice.