TEXARKANA, Texas - The circumstances of a 2000 GMC Yukon plunging from the roadway and into Wright Patman Lake spillway are unique, an official said Monday.
"It is the first time someone has gone through the barrier of fence and a guard rail into the spillway," Capt. Shawn Hervey of the Texas Game Warden's Law Enforcement, said during a Monday afternoon press conference.
"This is the first time in 21 years something like this has happened," he said.
The body recovery mission continues for a man who officials believe was driving the Yukon when it plunged into the Wright Patman Lake spillway about 6 p.m., Sunday.
The 2000 GMC Yukon was found about at about 10:24 p.m, Sunday in the water, Hervey said.
When the Yukon was pulled from the water, the man wasn't inside.
Clothing was found floating on the water as far as 4 miles away from the spillway and officials are trying to determine if it is connected to the spillway incident.
The female, Lucia Mendoza, 29, a Texarkana resident, was rescued from the water when the Yukon went over, said Sgt. Greg Williams of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Upon her rescue, she was taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries, Williams added.
The water was estimated to be about 27 to 30 feet deep when the car went into the lake, said Matt Seavey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office Manager, at the spillway, said.
The force of the water may have carried the man upstream from the spillway, Seavey said.
Hervey said the spillway water was shut off shortly after the car hit the water and it remains off for the time being.
Overnight about 100 members of different agencies worked to recover the vehicle and the man. Those agencies included the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bowie County Sheriff's Office, Cass County Sheriff's Office, Texas Game Wardens and several area volunteer fire departments
Game wardens Monday were in boats trying to locate the man through video tracking radar.