2 people found dead in submerged car that went unnoticed for hours in southwest Houston bayou

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The medical examiner is working to figure out how two people died in southwest Houston after their bodies were found inside a car several hours after it went underwater in a bayou on Monday.

No one may have known or noticed the car was submerged initially. Houston police said they think the driver was involved in a single-car crash around 3 a.m. or 4 a.m.

Someone heard the sound but didn't discover the car in the bayou or call for help until almost half a day later, according to investigators.

Houston police said they got the first call about the crash around 2:30 p.m. on Monday.

Shortly after first responders got to the scene, Browni Ford says she was driving down Wilcrest near Beechnut and noticed the investigation.

"The car was already down there submerged. They told us it had been down there since 3 a.m. which is kinda crazy because that's a long time," Ford said.

A banged-up, grey sedan with two people inside hit the water between the two bridges on Wilcrest.

Police said it may have gone unnoticed because they haven't been able to find anyone who saw what happened.

"We don't have any actual witnesses at the scene, so it's kind of hard to piece everything together right now," Lt. M. Hroch said.

Police also haven't identified the victims. They described them as adults. It took heavy machinery and special tools to pull the car out of the water and remove their bodies. People looking on questioned whether they could have been saved if someone had seen them sooner.

"I feel sorry for that family, that they have to go through that. No one let them know it could've possibly been their family member down in that bayou," Ashleigh McCaskin said.

"All we can do is let this be a warning to some people. Things can happen this way. You need to take into consideration your life. It doesn't matter if it's a single car. You're still in a motor vehicle, and things can happen like this," Ford said.

Investigators said it is too early to tell if something suspicious happened.

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