Four people died Tuesday night after the SUV they were in plunged into 18 feet of water near Leesburg, Ala., and the search for a fifth person continued Wednesday as darkness closed in on searchers.
Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said seven people were riding in a seven-passenger SUV around 7 p.m. CST Tuesday. They apparently were unfamiliar with the road leading to Leesburg Landing and didn’t realize it lines up with a boat ramp on Weiss Lake if drivers don’t turn right into a parking lot or swing left around a parking loop just past the ramp.
“They took a wrong turn and ran off the end of the boat ramp,” Shaver said Tuesday morning as crews searched for a missing victim. Two people survived.
“The vehicle submerged and rescue personnel recovered two people from the water who are at the hospital. And [Tuesday] night, they recovered a total of four deceased from the water and they recovered the vehicle,” Shaver said.
The victims were identified as Cherokee County residents Robert Hardin; Cheryl Hobson; her daughter, Christy Hobson; and Dale Keener, said Cherokee County Coroner Dr. Jeremy Deaton. The victims range in age from their 20s to their 40s.