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Ford pickup stolen in 2014 found submerged in Texas lake by fisherman

JACKSONVILLE, Texas — This was one whopper of a fish tale.

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A Texas angler detected something unusual on his fish finder on Wednesday while fishing in Lake Jacksonville. After a dive team was summoned, authorities retrieved a pickup truck that had been reported stolen in 2014, KETK-TV reported.

“It was just an interesting day on Lake Jacksonville,” Jon Hargett, a member of the dive team, told the television station.

Authorities pulled a 1999 Ford F-150 out of 18 feet of water near Buckner Dam, Jacksonville Police Department spokesperson Cpl. Amanda Bragg told the Jacksonville Progress.

Divers Justin McDonald and Kevin Kelsey, of Watermark Designs Marine were able to report the license plate to authorities, according to the newspaper.

The vehicle was last registered in Rusk, Texas, KLTV reported. Investigators located the owner and learned that the truck had been stolen in 2014, according to KETK.

“We already knew from sonar pictures provided by Jon Hargett what the vehicle looked like,” Billy McDonald, the owner of Watermark Designs Marine, told the television station. “So once we made contact, we knew which direction to go and what we were looking for, and we could do that in zero visibility by feel. So we hooked the tag lines to it and then Isaac Wrecker Service extracted it from the water.”

No one was inside the vehicle, but a diver found a fish swimming in the back of the pickup, KETK reported. He caught the fish and released it.

“It was interesting to at least see the truck come out of the water and (I was) relieved to find out there was no souls in the cab, so to speak,” Hargett told the television station. “There was no one involved in that accident.”