U.S. authorities say the removal of a car that entered the Niagara River on Wednesday has been put on hold after it went over the Falls this past weekend.
New York State Parks (NYSP) say they’ve lost site of the vehicle after a “wind event” on Saturday swept the vehicle underwater.
“The vehicle was last seen by State Park Police patrols around 9pm Saturday, after which the water level raised so high that the vehicle was no longer visible,” a NYSP spokesperson Brian Nearing told Global News.
“By daybreak, the water level had receded, and the vehicle was gone from the brink of the Falls.”
The park authority said officers are still monitoring the waterway for debris that might pose a danger.
“We will evaluate removal if we make visual contact with the car,” said Nearing.
NYSP say a woman died after the car went into the Niagara River on the morning of Dec. 8 on the U.S. side of the Falls not far from Goat Island just before noon.
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and a rescue swimmer were able to recover the body of a woman in her late 60s.
The investigation into the reason the female driver went into the river is still ongoing. Police do not believe the incident to be suspicious in nature.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has determined there’s been minimal environmental impact and no sign of a release into the environment.