Missing Driver's Body Found; Drowning in Flood Waters Likely Cause: Police

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The body of a missing Waldorf man seen driving into flood waters – and then swept away inside his pickup truck – was found Wednesday afternoon, authorities say.

Anne Arundel County Police say Rene Dimanche Jr., 47, of Waldorf, likely drowned. An autopsy will be performed in Baltimore to determine the cause of death.

Police were called about 5 a.m. Tuesday to the area of Brock Bridge Road and Dorsey Run, which feeds into the Patuxent River, on a report of a vehicle in the flood waters following a night of heavy rains. The water from the Dorsey Run flooded Brock Bridge Road to the point that it was impassable and dangerous, authorities say.

A witness told officers they saw a small, white pickup truck attempt to drive through the flood waters over Brock Bridge Road. The truck suddenly floated up and spun around in the current before it was swept off the road and disappeared beneath the water.

Anne Arundel County firefighters and paramedics, including Special Operations divers and swift water swimmers from Anne Arundel and Howard County, responded to the scene. Rescuers searched for several hours from the point the vehicle was last seen -- about 1,200 feet west of the bridge over the Little Patuxent River -- and downriver. The search failed to locate the vehicle. Units continued to search as the waters receded.

Tuesday night police were notified of a missing person report made by relatives to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. The missing person, Dimanche, was last seen at his residence at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The sheriff’s office said Dimanche driove a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with Missouri plates. While attempting to locate Dimanche, an Anne Arundel County Police Officer discovered a small, white pickup truck in the middle of the water of Dorsey Run. The truck was visible from the Brock Bridge Road Bridge over the waterway.

Police say the unoccupied vehicle was the 1999 Toyota Tacoma registered to Dimanche.

Anne Arundel County fire and police officers searched the area Wednesday, until fire personnel found Dimanche’s body just before 1 p.m. The victim was located several hundred yards downstream from Brockbridge Road.

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