SCUBA diver finds no one in the car

NEW HAMPTON – Authorities had a scare initially when a car was spotted in the middle of the Wallkill River in New Hampton Wednesday afternoon.  How it got there and who might have been in it remain a mystery

The car was submerged up to its roof in the Wallkill off Celery Road in New Hampton.

The call came in at around 12:45 p.m. Dive teams called to the scene with initial reports saying that people might be trapped in the vehicle.

Divers checked the car and found no one inside. The vehicle was later pulled from the water by a giant rig.

The driver of the car apparently gained access to the vicinity of the river on a DEC access road that the state agency and Orange County use to pull trees and debris from the Wallkill.

County Legislator Thomas Pahucki, who lives nearby, said more must be done to protect that entry way.

“That’s all private property back there and I think it’s incumbent upon the county to maintain that gate, keep it locked,” he said. It could be done with a combination lock to which all landowners would be provided the combination, Pahucki said.

By the end of the day, authorities continued to investigate how the car wound up in the Wallkill River.