Car seen floating near Matlacha restaurant

Reporter: Ashley French Writer: Nicholas Karsen
Published: Updated:

Imagine you’re out dining with family or friends at a waterfront, and you see an unusual object floating in the water. 

An object that’s not built for water but rather for the road. 

People dining at the Miceli’s Restaurant in Matlacha saw a red SUV float past the restaurant’s waterfront Sunday evening. 

Law enforcement agencies received a call between 6 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, to which they quickly arrived at the scene. 

WINK News arrived on the scene and immediately noticed that the car was no longer in the canal when we arrived. 

Witnesses, upon interviewing, said the car had fallen into the canal from a boat ramp next to the D&D Bait and Tackle shop. 

The shop is also right next to the restaurant; where people began to pull out their phones to record the rare moment in shock and amazement. 

“When everybody started standing up, we assumed that it was a dolphin or manatee, which we see all the time,” said Liz Gatewood, an employee at Miceli’s. “I came to find out it was a car floating by.”

Gatewood also made the call to 911. Thankfully no one was in the car when it was seen floating in the water. 

Kevin Branigan, the general manager at Miceili’s, told WINK that he had never seen something like this happen before.

“You know, being in this business, you see a lot of things, but this was definitely something I have never seen before’ said Branigan. “I’ve seen people on the phone calling 911 and sirens, And people just watched it flow down the river.” 

The main question remains: how did it end up in the water?

WINK News has contacted agencies to learn more and will provide updates as soon as they become available. 

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