Body pulled from vehicle in Clark Fork River

MISSOULA — Crews on Wednesday afternoon pulled a man’s body from a submerged vehicle in the Clark Fork River that police believe is the same vehicle witnesses reported plunging into the fast-flowing water a day earlier in Missoula.

Authorities say the body is being taken to the State Crime Lab in Missoula. His identity isn’t yet known.

Missoula Police Department spokesman Travis Welsh says searchers found the vehicle completely submerged and upside down near a trestle about 200 yards downstream from where it entered the river.

He says a line attached to the vehicle caused it to turn right-side up with the top at the surface, and a rescuer was able get access through a window.

Welsh says it’s not clear why the vehicle went into the river.