A limo bus reported stolen from downtown Kelowna was found submersed in Okanagan Lake off Westside Road Sunday morning.
The limo bus, which is owned by Sun Valley Limousine, was reported stolen at 2 a.m. Sunday.
The vehicle had been left unattended with the keys in the ignition.
The driver had left the limo bus to restock ice inside a Lawrence Avenue restaurant when the vehicle was driven away by a thief.
It was discovered around 9:30 a.m. at the bottom of a 100 metre embankment in Okanagan Lake about 12 km from where it was stolen.
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“We’re just trying to determine whether or not there is anyone still inside,” said Constable Martha Kennedy with West Kelowna RCMP.
Sergeant Brian Nightingale, a RCMP collision analyst, believes there is a good possibility the limo bus was pushed over the edge deliberately.
Nightingale says it appears the vehicle went straight over the cliff and there is no indication it went over at an angle as if someone had been driving it along the roadway.
“We would expect to see brake marks or hard steering marks to show that the vehicle has gone out of control,” he said. “We’re not seeing that. We do have a disturbance along the bank, which looks like it had just gone straight over.”
Divers will assemble to go inside the submerged and possibly occupied vehicle, but because of the road’s notorious history of fatal accidents, RCMP are investigating this crash as an accident until they know different.
Once the vehicle is checked for victims, RCMP will determine whether to use a barge or a tow truck with a winch to remove the limo bus from the lake.
The owner of Sun Valley Limousine was out of town Sunday and unavailable for comment.
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