Crews find the driver swept away by floodwaters in a submerged vehicle

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – Crews searching for a driver who was swept away by high water in Lyndonville found the vehicle submerged in a branch of the Passumpsic River Thursday. And late that afternoon, they managed to get the dead man out of the car. Police identified him as John Rice, 73, of Concord, Vermont.

According to witnesses, Rice was trying to cross a flooded section of road on Center Street and continued ahead despite being warned to turn back. The car was swept downstream and almost immediately disappeared below the surface. Several boats were dispatched to search for the driver and car, but witnesses said Rice never reappeared.

“We had witnesses try to stop him before he drove into the water and he continued past them and then the current just took his car into the Passumpsic River,” Lyndon Police Chief Jack Harris said.

Dive crews had to wait for the river to recede before confirming the victim was still inside. By late Thursday afternoon, the water had receded enough that they were able to get into the vehicle to remove it.

Police are reminding everyone to never drive on a flooded road.

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