OHP working to recover about 18 vehicles from under water

After two days of hard effort by about thirty men and women, the Oklahoma Highway Parol has only just begun a massive recovery project involving some 18 vehicles found under water in the McLellan-Kerr Navigation Channel in Rogers County.

Battling cold water -- about 55 degrees Farenheit -- choppy conditions, muck, rust and zero visbility, they managed to pull most of one pickup out of the water early Wednesday afternoon.

They tell KRMG it was a red, Chevrolet pickup truck and its tag led back to an insurance company in Sapulpa.

It's believed the pickup was stolen in Broken Arrow in 2006.

They still have about 17 more vehicles to recover, a process that could take months.

OHP Capt. George Brown explained that the vehicles have suffered a lot of damage from being under water for so long.

"They come out in pieces," he said late Wednesday morning.

OHP Lt. Jeff James said visibility in the channel drops to zero within a few feet of the surface, and most of the vehicles are about 20 feet down.

No one knows at this point how all those vehicles got there, nor whether they'll find evidence of any crimes.