Officials Believe They Have Located The Tow Truck That Crashed Into The Sacramento River

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Officials believe they have located the tow truck that crashed off Pioneer Memorial Bridge into the river last Tuesday. There is no word on the couple who are presumed to be inside.

Police say they believe the truck is halfway across the river and about 39 feet down. The next step for crews is to figure out exactly how they will get the barge in with a crane to recover the truck. Officials say there are two major PG&E pipelines in the water and weather conditions will make the recovery increasingly difficult.

The family of Shalvinesh and Roselyn Sharma believe their bodies are at the bottom of the Sacramento River, but local crews had not been able safely to locate the truck and couple due to rapid, frigid waters. The water is moving at about four feet per second.

On Monday, a commercial dive team was called in to help with the recovery effort. They used sonar to find the tow truck, pinpointing the location through sound waves. They now believe they have located the truck using sonar technology, but crews have not actually seen or touched the truck.

The machine sends out sound waves that bounce off the object. The time it takes for the echo to return is measured. Officials believe those measurements are about the same as the tow truck they are looking for.

The water is also filled with debris, making it difficult to determine if the techonology is picking up the truck or a cluster of trees.

"There's tires, cars, all the things you would think would be in the bottom of the river, they're likely in this area," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Sergeant Shaun Hampton.

The water was too dangerous for local divers, so Solano County divers came to help on Saturday, but the water was still too dangerous.

"Safety is paramount when we're out here," said Solano County Sergeant Jackson Harris on Saturday. "We're not going to cause any further complications by putting our divers into jeopardy."