A man was found dead Tuesday inside a pickup truck submerged in a Seminole County retention pond, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A crew spraying pesticide around 9 a.m. near the pond in the area of 1055 AAA Drive, in Lake Mary, found the Nissan pickup truck.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators said the Nissan pickup truck had probably been in the water for a couple of days. Its driver, a 47-year-old from Orlando, was reported missing Monday.
FHP said the driver was not wearing a seat belt. Investigators said it’s unclear why the truck went into the pond. AAA Drive dead-ends near the edge of the pond.
Troopers said they didn’t find any obvious skid marks or other signs the driver tried to stop and avoid going into the water, but they’re still looking into what exactly happened.
The workers’ supervisor said he noticed something suspicious in the water while site-surveying Monday.
“I noticed something in the lake and I didn’t know what it was, if it was a piece of debris or whatever. So I told my tech to go out today and see what it was. Looking back I wish I had done something sooner, but I look at dozens of lakes and was it a piece of cardboard, debris?” said Chris Collier, a supervisor with Aquatic Systems.
While in the water Tuesday morning, divers also found a Lexus IS 250 they said was stolen out of Volusia County about a year ago. FHP said that car was probably dumped in the pond months ago and has nothing to do with the pickup found.
As of Tuesday afternoon, FHP was still working to notify the family of the pickup truck’s driver, and had not yet released the man’s name.