How did this SUV wind up in Lake Washington? Police seeking answers

Investigators are looking for the person who plunged a Toyota 4Runner into Lake Washington, north of Seward Park, sometime over the weekend.

How or when the SUV wound up in the lake, not to mention why, remains unclear so far. As of 9:30 a.m., crews had not discovered any bodies, emergency responders say.

Around 8:15 a.m., a caller reported seeing an SUV underwater in the 3800 block of Lake Washington Boulevard South, Kaila Lafferty, a spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department, wrote in an email.

That's right near the Mount Baker Rowing & Sailing Center, not far north of Seward Park.

The caller did not see the SUV go into the water, Lafferty said. Nor did they see anybody else around.

The Toyota was some 50 feet away from the shore and fully submerged with all its doors and windows closed, Seattle police Detective Brian Prichard said in an email.

Emergency responders closed off nearby traffic along Lake Washington Boulevard and the Fire Department's rescue boats, swimmers and divers arrived at the scene to investigate. Lafferty said they did not find anyone in the submerged vehicle or in the water nearby.

Because the crews didn't find anybody at the scene, department officials downgraded the emergency response from a rescue operation to a matter of recovering the vehicle. The investigation has now been turned over to the Seattle Police Department, Lafferty said.

King County sheriff's office deputies are helping in the investigation, Prichard said. They are attempting to contact the vehicle's registered owner, who lives within their jurisdiction.

A tow truck arrived on the scene later in the morning and crews on hand pulled the SUV from the water, reopening traffic along Lake Washington Boulevard before noon.

No other information was available as of Sunday evening.

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This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 4:54 PM.