A Baxter County Sheriff's Office diver recovered a body from a vehicle that ran off the causeway inside the Pigeon Creek park, about 6 miles north of Mtn. Home, Ark., and became submerged under the water, reported Sheriff John Montgomery. A causeway is a raised road traversing a body of water or wet ground.
At 12:43 p.m. Thursday, said Montgomery, a woman called 911 reporting that her son phoned her saying that his car had gone off into the lake. He was inside the car and he needed help. The general location was reported to be in the Pigeon Creek area of Norfork Lake on North Highway 20, but a more precise location was not known, the sheriff said.
Deputies and other emergency responders were dispatched and began searching for the vehicle, said to be a silver Toyota passenger car. No such vehicle could be seen from the roadway, and responders then began searching other access points on Lake Norfork as well, as the driver was said to reside near a different access point on the lake. The sheriff's office also deployed a patrol boat to the area, as did Park rangers with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Numerous bridges and access points on Norfork Lake were searched as responders continued to look in the Pigeon Creek area. The sheriff's office helicopter was later launched as well, said Montgomery.
Shortly before 2 p.m., a park ranger reported finding vehicle parts or debris on or near the causeway inside Pigeon Creek park that could belong to a vehicle matching the description given. Responders in a boat arrived shortly thereafter and confirmed a vehicle in the water, about 10 feet under, at that location, Montgomery reported.
A sheriff's office diver then arrived and made a dive on the vehicle. The diver recovered the body of a man and brought him up. The male was deceased at the scene, and the Baxter County Coroner's Office was notified.
The victim was identified as 31-year old Darren M. Martin of Gamaliel, Ark.
Thirteen deputies and park rangers, as well as several volunteer firefighters and rescue personnel, responded to the 911 call and participated in the search for the vehicle and the subsequent recovery, Montgomery said.
