It’s not uncommon to find a Jeep Wrangler buried, sunken, submerged, or otherwise incapacitated by nature. This is what Jeeps do. Off-roaders go to great lengths to test their rigs, and with that must eventually come failure. However, it’s less common to find a Jeep submerged in a lake with the driver still inside. Less common still is finding a driver in a sunken car that’s still alive. 

Updated: 7/21

How did the Jeep Wrangler end up in a lake? 

Texas officials responded to reports of a Jeep Wrangler almost completely submerged in a Marion County, Texas, lake. Once on the scene, the recovery began immediately; only then did the responders notice a woman inside, and she was alive. 

“It was at that time they saw the woman,” Rogers said. “The fisherman and wrecker employee was able to help the woman from the Jeep. They placed her into the boat, and she was brought to shore.” According to the Sheriff’s Office, the woman went to the hospital, and in the process of the investigation, they learned that she was a missing person from Longview, Texas.

How she got there is still a bit of a mystery. Local law enforcement has been tight-lipped about the situation and said that, given the circumstances surrounding the incident, they wouldn’t be releasing any more information at this time. 

“We do not know exactly how long the jeep was in the water. The victim confirmed it was at least a few hours,” Captain Chuck Rogers confirmed to USA Today. Police were initially contacted by a fisherman. They had spotted the Jeep in Lake O’the Pines near southwest Marion County. It took a tow truck to pull the jeep out. 

This kind of thing happens all the time, sort of

It’s not all that uncommon to find a truck or SUV a bit too far beyond its ability. There was that new Ford Bronco that recently ended up stuck on a sandbar. Then there was the Rivian that buried itself up to its axles in soft mud on the shore. These things happen. Granted, Jeep Wranglers are one of the best off-road SUVs on the market, but even greats can bite off more than they can chew. 

What is far less normal is for there to be a submerged off-roader with someone inside who is still alive. Again, this wasn’t a few minutes; the driver said she was in the Jeep for hours. The normal goes completely off the rails when you add in the missing person aspect. 

Is this a good ad for Jeep? 

Given the sensitive nature of the woman in the Jeep Wrangler, we wouldn’t want to appear to be making light of this situation. However, the thought occurred that this is a strong accolade for the Wrangler. The fact that this woman could survive being submerged for hours in something as – let’s face it – Wrangler-y and the Jeep Wrangler is nothing short of amazing. If she was truly underwater for that long, then it sounds like Jeeps might be safer than many of us assumed.