Thursday, Nov. 05 2009 6:15PM

Car recovered in Longview Lake

Emily Jarrett, Journal Staff

Jackson County Sheriff’s officers recovered a Volkswagen Touareg from Longview Lake Tuesday night, hours after an area resident called saying they saw the car go into the lake.

Originally, sheriff’s deputies were unsure if the call had been a hoax, as it took them four or five hours to find the car.

Sgt. Steve Leone, public information officer for the sheriff’s department, told the Journal earlier this week a resident called 911 around 2:45 p.m. Nov. 3 regarding the car. As of press time Nov. 3, Leone said he couldn’t speculate whether there was a car in the lake or not.

“After a few hours of searching, sheriff’s deputies, with the help of Lee’s Summit Water Patrol, found the missing car, which had been reported stolen Oct. 31 from Leawood, Kan.,” Leone said.

Leone said investigators believe whoever stole the vehicle “rigged it so it would go into the lake on its on volition.”

There was no one inside the car at the time it went into the lake.

Leawood police officers will now take over the case, Leone said.

To reach Journal reporter Emily Jarrett, call 816-282-7018 or e-mail ejarrett@lsjournal.com.