[mcdude]

from the Citizen - November 19

An unoccupied vehicle was pulled from Lake Winnipesaukee Tuesday afternoon. Now police are trying to figure out how it got there and who it belongs to. A blue, two-door GMC Jimmy was found in Lake Winnipesaukee at the end of Peggy's Cove Road in Alton. The vehicle was half submerged in the water several feet from the end of the dock.

Acting Fire Chief Scott Williams said there is no known cause for why the car ended up in the water.

Williams pointed out deep skid marks in the dirt a few feet from the end of the land with tire treads leading toward the water. The vehicle went over a short, rocky embankment and into the water.

The Alton Fire Department had two personnel members in the water wearing cold water suits to see if anyone was in or around the vehicle. They confirmed that the vehicle was unoccupied and there was no one else in or around it in the water.

There were no immediate witnesses to the incident and the vehicle's driver was unknown. Fire crews took the license plate number and gave it to police to investigate further.

Peggy's Cove Road is mostly occupied by seasonal residents with three houses which are occupied year-round.

Resident Tammy Brown said she was returning home from work around 2:20 p.m., looked over the hill "and I saw there was a car in the water."

She went into her house and called 911 and went out to the dock to make sure no one was in the vehicle.

A wrecker from Doug Roberts Auto Service in New Durham pulled the vehicle out of the water with help from the rescue crews in wetsuits.

Fire Department personnel put floaters in the water to clean up any oil or fuel that may have leaked into the lake.

The vehicle was last in the possession of the Alton Police Department, which will investigate the incident further.