ST. JOHNS COUNTY. Fla. — A teen inside a submerged SUV in the Intracoastal Waterway near San Pablo Road South is dead, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Chuck Mulligan of SJSO told Action News Jax the driver has been identified as Cole Alexander Kelley, 14, of St. Johns County. He was the only person inside the car.
Officials worked to get the black Isuzu Trooper that submerged about 10 feet in the water out of the waterway. It happened Wednesday morning on a privately-owned Dee Dot Ranch property.
The SUV was driving off the property towards the gates. That’s when the sheriff’s office told Action News Jax there was a slight curve on the bridge and the SUV went into the Intracoastal Waterway.
Someone called authorities about the car just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, officials with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department said. The incident quickly became a recovery effort, according to SJSO.
Agencies such as St. Johns Fire and Rescue, JFRD and the Jacksonville Beach lifeguard unit responded to the incident.
JFRD were the first to arrive on scene because St. Johns County crews needed to travel through Jacksonville to get to this property.
Underneath the bridge is where Sky Action News Jax spotted the SUV partially submerged in the water.
“I can tell you that the depth of the water in this particular portion of that tributary is about 22 feet from what I’ve been told. The vehicle was not that deep but it did require divers to go in and extricate the subject,” Chuck Mulligan, with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies tell us that at one point the SUV was completely under water. They tell us they’re still investigating what caused the crash.