Body found in passenger seat of submerged vehicle in Manor

MANOR, Texas - Texas DPS is investigating after a man's body was found in a submerged vehicle in a creek in Manor.

On Monday, April 15, around 8:41 a.m., DPS says a driver reported seeing a vehicle upside down and almost completely submerged in Cottonwood Creek on Cameron Road near Cele Rd.

Patrick Bradshaw, who works nearby, saw the car on Monday morning and called it in. He says the road is dangerous. 

"It's a death trap is what it is right here," he said. "They need to get a guardrail or something. They need to make it safer."

The 2008 Infiniti sedan was pulled from the creek and a person was found dead in the passenger's seat, according to Travis County ESD No. 2.

"Typically, when people are in an auto accident, especially if they're not restrained, they can be in any position within the vehicle," said Capt. Trevor Stokes, with Travis County ESD 2. 

Stokes says it took about 40 minutes for first responders to get the car out.

"They got a chain around it to pull it out. They said, 'we got one,' meaning a body," Bradshaw said. "It is just a gut feeling that someone's there. I was just hoping there weren't children."

He says this isn't the first crash he's seen in the area. 

"This also happened about three years ago. The car was coming down, and it got a little too far over on the slope. It flipped over here in the pasture," he said. 

FOX 7 saw a county contractor adjusting a striped reflective sign on Tuesday morning. 

While there wasn't flooding in this case, the fire department is reminding people to be aware of those types of conditions during the wet weather season. 

"When water is over the roadway, do not drive into the roadway, turn around, don't drown," Stokes said. 

The victim has not been identified yet, and no one else was inside the vehicle.

It's still unknown why the vehicle left the roadway. The cause of the crash is under investigation.