WAPATO, Wash. (AP) — Divers have recovered the body of an 87-year-old man whose pickup truck went into a canal north of his Wapato home.
The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office says rescuers pulled Thomas Pence and his truck from the water Sunday afternoon. Authorities believe he may have suffered a heart attack or other medical condition when he drove off the road sometime Friday.
Deputies began searching for Pence Friday night after family members reported that he had not returned home. One relative found a set of tire tracks leading into the canal near his home.
The sheriff’s office water rescue and dive team located his body and vehicle in the canal Saturday but the current was too strong to safely tow him out at that time.