Woman's Body Found In Submerged Vehicle Near Tecumseh

Flood waters have claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman just south of Tecumseh. Authorities say she was trying to cross a washed out road.

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office said she was less than a mile from her home trying to get into town. The longtime resident thought she could make it across.

"I know we preach this all the time, but people are just going to have to understand the power of the water," said J.T. Palmer, Pottawatomie County Undersheriff.

Overflow from nearby Little River was too much for its banks to handle, and the powerful current was too much for the victim's truck.

"This water had nowhere to go. I mean the ground was saturated. We still had water standing outside the rivers banks," said Palmer.

Tecumseh and Shawnee fire departments responded around 4:45 Thursday evening to what they thought was a water rescue. But, they arrived and found the woman's body.

"It's just one of them, again, thinking you can make it and you can't," said Palmer.

Palmer said church members of the elderly victim believe she was on her way to pay bills in town.

"Her house is about a mile from here. She knows this road, she's probably drove it a hundred times," said Palmer. "Again it was just a sad mistake she made attempting to drive through this water."

The sheriff's office is going through the victim's church family to try and locate any family members.

Her body will be taken to the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner's Office to determine exact cause of death. The victim's body was not completely submerged.

According to the sheriff's office, at least four other vehicles have been swept off washed out roads across the county.