NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Niagara Falls State Park Police have called a 3 p.m. news conference to provide new information about an incident on Wednesday that left one person dead and a car stuck in the upper Niagara River near the falls.
State Park Police now say that it appears a woman in her 60s from the area intentionally drove the car into the water.
The vehicle remains in the water, but it has flipped over and is now 30 yards from the brink of the falls.
State Parks Police say witnesses first reported seeing the car floating down the Niagara River shortly before noon Wednesday. It became hung up on rocks some 50 yards shy of the American Falls.
"We've never had a vehicle in the water this close to the brink," State Park Police Captain Christopher Rola said on Wednesday, and no plans have been announced yet to attempt to remove the vehicle.
During a Thursday afternoon news conference, Captain Rola said options have been explored to remove the vehicle from the Niagara River.
"It's been all kinds of ideas," Captain Rola said. "Obviously, helicopter, crane companies, so they're working on that. We'll be handling more toward the safety end, or if they needed our swift water team for some kind of entry into the water."
Captain Rola said the car became dislodged shortly after midnight on Thursday and drifted down the river some more, moving closer to the falls. He added that because it's property and not a rescue, that was a consideration when it came to plans to remove the vehicle.
He said if the vehicle did become dislodged again and go over the falls, it would likely smash into a boulder and be crushed. "If it goes over the falls, it's not going to hurt anyone. It's just property," he said.
Captain Rola said the woman's family has been notified.