Baxter County, AR. – The Baxter County Sheriff’s Department recovered a body from a vehicle after a man crashed his car into Lake Norfork.
The male was identified as 31-year-old Darren M. Martin. According to reports, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 12:43 p.m. on Thursday, June 27th, from a woman who said her son just called her saying he crashed his car into the lake and needed help. The general location of the crash was the Pigeon Creek area of the lake. Deputies and other emergency responders arrived and searched for the car. It was not visible from the shore of the lake. The sheriff’s office, park rangers, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers all deployed patrol boats, as well as one patrol helicopter to search for the submerged vehicle.
At 1:55 p.m. the car was found submerged 10 feet underwater and dive teams were sent to recover Martin from the vehicle. Thirteen Sheriff’s Deputies and USACE Park Rangers, several volunteer firefighters, and rescue personnel, responded to the 911 call and participated in the search for the vehicle and the subsequent recovery.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery posted on his Facebook page congratulating the deputy who responded to the scene as a diver. The deputy left his father’s side who was in Hospice near the end of his life to help recover the body of Darren Martin.
