CALHOUN COUNTY, S.C. — The search is on for the driver of a car that was pulled out of the Congaree River early Tuesday morning.
Authorities telling News 19 a bystander called in and reported seeing the car in the Congaree River this morning around 8:30.
Deputies with the Richland County Sheriff's Department initially responded to the scene near the line between Richland and Calhoun counties at 8:26 a.m. They were joined by representatives from South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and Calhoun County Sheriff's Office (CCSO).
SCDNR said the vehicle was recovered from the river at Highway 601, which would be at Bates Landing, near St. Matthews and across the river from McCord's Ferry historical landing.
Once it was determined that the vehicle was recovered from the river in Calhoun County, CCSO took over as the lead investigative unit.
An hours-long search Tuesday morning and afternoon didn't bring any answers to the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office.
"We determined that the fellow that was owner of the car was missing, so we had the car towed out and we're actively looking for him now," said Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers.
Summers said he's known the missing man and his family for about 35 years, adding that the missing man would visit Bates Bridge Landing every now and then to fish or relax and watch the water.
The Sheriff said family are clinging to hope that there will be a positive outcome.
"They're just hopeful that we find him and he's safe," Summer said.
Summers tells News 19 the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources used sonar in their boat during the search and said they're confident he's not in this area of the water, but they're also not sure if he's in the water.
"We're looking in the water, we're looking on the banks, through the woods and we've also got a drone flying around. And though there's a chance he walked out and got picked up also, we just don't know," Summers said.
According to the sheriff, the last time the family saw him was around 3:00 Tuesday morning, thinking he had gone to his workshop to spend the night.
Deputies wrapped up for the day around 4:00 this afternoon.
"We're gonna wait. With the cold temperatures, it's probably not going to do much good to, we're going to wait a few days and then we'll check back out here and periodically about every 3 or 4 days we'll ride the river and see if we can locate anything," Summer said.