Loch Ness Muck: Stolen Truck Recovered From Lake Sonoma

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Receding water levels at Lake Sonoma revealed something very peculiar this weekend. According to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, marine unit deputies were contacted by park rangers Saturday regarding a pickup truck they'd discovered submerged in the water next to a boat ramp located in Yorty Creek, which is a small, narrow arm on the north side of the lake, in Cloverdale.

The deputies returned to the site at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, coming prepared with scuba diving gear and a tow truck, said sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum.

"One deputy donned his scuba gear and was able to swim down and attach a tow line to the submerged truck so the tow truck could winch it out of the lake," Crum said.

After pulling the mud-covered truck from the lake, deputies ran its serial number and determined it was a white Dodge 1500 that had been reported stolen in December 2016 from Cloverdale. Based on its condition, sheriff's officials have surmised that the truck, which was originally white in color, had likely been in the lake since around that time.

"The level of the lake has been so high that it wasn’t visible but now the water level has dropped low enough to where this truck was exposed," Crum said.

Photo via Sonoma County Sheriff's Office