Mystery after SUV filmed driving off cliff
Car and occupants not found, despite search and rescue efforts
POLICE in America have appealed for information after a shocking dash cam video showed an SUV driving off a cliff.
California Highway Patrol (CHP) said the unknown vehicle, which appears to be a green, pre-2016 Lexus RX, was travelling northbound on the SR-1 coastal highway south of Gray Whale Cove when it veered off the west side of the road.
The video shows the car apparently not slowing down before disappearing off the cliff and out of shot.
Despite search efforts from the emergency services by air and sea, including several rescue and dive teams, no occupants of the vehicle, nor the vehicle itself, were located.
This led some members of the public, commenting under the video, to question its authenticity, with some suggesting it could be a hoax.
However, the police said the witness stopped their vehicle at the scene and assisted investigating officers by providing a statement and handing over the dash cam footage.
San Mateo County Fire Department on Instagram said that tyre tracks were found at the scene and debris was found in the water, though it was not immediately clear if the debris was connected to the SUV.
According to Gregg Miller, a local resident commenting under the video, the cliff at Gray Whale Cove has a 75ft (23m) drop onto rocks below, with waves reaching 30ft (9m) tall.
The incident occurred on December 30, 2019, at approximately 10:38am, and was posted on the CHP Facebook page on January 3, along with the request for assistance from the public. The CHP said that if anyone has any information that might be helpful, they should call 415-407-3741.
Search efforts had to be called off soon after they began due to dangerous water conditions, and remained that way until Thursday morning, according to the police. Driving.co.uk has contacted the CHP for the latest on the incident.
Commenting under the video, Facebook user Debbie Hall said that “two ladies from Oregon did the same thing with their adopted children in the car” on the same highway “a year or two ago”. Other Facebook users recalled the incident.
A New York Times article from April last year reported that a female couple had indeed killed themselves and their six adopted children in a murder-suicide with a “fatal plunge over a 100-foot cliff” in March 2018.
It was determined that Sarah Hart and her wife, Jennifer Hart, of West Linn, Ore., had purposely driven their sport utility vehicle over a cliff in Mendocino County, north of Gray Whale Cove, days after learning they were under investigation by child welfare officials.
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