Crews remove 1970s pickup that mysteriously ended up in Colorado River


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MOAB — How did a 1970s-era Chevy stepside pickup truck end up near a high-water traffic area of the Colorado River?

That’s a question state and local authorities are trying to answer after shrinking water levels forced officials to pull the vehicle from the river Friday when they feared it would become a water hazard for swimmers and boaters, Utah State Parks ranger Jeff Arbon said.

A pedestrian walking on a nearby bridge first spotted the outline of the truck in the water and called local authorities last week.

Moab Fire Department crews responded and found it a little more than 100 feet from a boat ramp. Crews ran a chain through the roof of the vehicle, but the roof broke open as crews attempted to pull it from the river, Arbon said.

Various state agencies, with a dive team and a wrecker, were later able to hoist the rusted vehicle from the river back to shore.

There were no signs of human remains inside the vehicle and the truck didn’t have a license plate either, Arbon said. The Grand County Sheriff’s Office was given the vehicle's identification number to help investigate who owned the vehicle.

Officials estimated the truck had been in the river about 15 to 20 years and went unnoticed until the water levels decreased. No police reports were ever filed about it.

How it ended up there remains a mystery, though Arbon hypothesized it went into the river after emergency brakes failed on the nearby boating ramp.

“And off it went into the river,” he said, with a chuckle.

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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