Divers Set To Recover Tow Truck, Couple In Sacramento River Friday

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Divers are set to recover the tow truck that plummeted off the Pioneer Bridge into the Sacramento River this Friday.

This comes over a week after officials located the truck, but could not safely recover it and the couple presumed to be inside. The truck crashed into the river around 8 p.m. on March 26.

CHP South Sacramento said the recovery effort will come from Global Diving and Salvage, with local agencies on the scene. The Bay Area company is expected to leave Thursday morning.

According to CHP, the family got power of attorney of Justin's Towing Wednesday and contracted Global Diving and Salvage to do the recovery through the tow truck company's insurance.

Global Diving and Salvage plans on transporting a barge with the necessary equipment to make a recovery of the vehicle from their Bay Area headquarters tomorrow with the barge arriving sometime in the evening. Officials said the recovery could take up to two days.

There is no word on the couple believed to be inside. 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.

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

Last 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 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."

Police say they believe the truck is halfway across the river and about 39 feet down. Officials say there are two major PG&E pipelines in the water and weather conditions will make the recovery increasingly difficult.