How do you escape a sinking car? Missing Texas woman found alive in jeep

A woman who went missing last week was recently found alive inside a submerged jeep in a Texas lake. As stated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday, April 7, authorities got a call from a fisherman who reported seeing a car at Lake O’ the Pines. The fisherman described seeing a black jeep about 40 ft underwater from the boat ramp on the lake. The police arrived at the lake 18 minutes after getting the call.

Texas authorities noticed the woman inside the jeep once they started preparing to remove it from the lake. She was safely pulled from the water and transported to a nearby hospital. Captain Chuck Rogers from Texas' Marion County Sheriff’s Office said that they did not know for how long the car was in the water.

Texas missing woman found alive after two days in a sinking jeep at a lake. (Image via Twitter/@1Nicdar)

According to the sheriff’s office, the rescued woman was listed as missing two days ago by the Longview Police Department. Her identity has not yet been revealed.

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Texas woman was inside the sinking car for a few hours before being rescued

Captain Chuck Rogers told Insider that they waited for the wrecker service to arrive, after which the wrecker employee went to the jeep on the fisherman’s boat. The car was affixed with a hook and cable and was pulled out of the water. Captain Chuck said that it was then that they saw the woman. He added:

"The fisherman and wrecker employee were able to help the woman from the jeep. They placed her into the boat and she was brought to shore.”

A fisherman spotted the sinking jeep at the lake. (Image via Marion County Sheriff's Office)

The woman was then placed in a vehicle so that she could warm up. Chuck noted that the weather was colder than normal Friday morning in Texas, and it had also been raining.

He said that the woman told him the jeep was in the water for at least a few hours. The woman was treated for hypothermia after emergency services arrived on the scene. She was then taken to a local hospital.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Texas discovered during the course of the investigation that the woman was listed as missing by another Texas police department, located about 25 miles south of the lake where the jeep was found.

However, she told the police that there have been cases of survival or revival even after hours of staying inside a sinking car, particularly when the water is cold.

The woman was pulled out of the car by wrecker service. (Image via Marion County Sheriff's Office)

A man survived inside a submerged tug boat back in 2013 in Nigeria. He had located an air pocket and was able to keep up his breathing until divers, who were recovering bodies, found him. In 2015, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl survived after spending 14 hours in a submerged car after her mother’s vehicle went into a river due to an accident.

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How to escape a sinking car?

It is advised to stay calm, act quickly, and not panic if one finds themselves in such a situation. They would only have a minute to get out, but they have to stay focused.

Opening the door is often not an option because of the water pressure, in which case, one should open the window instead. If the person is struggling to roll down the window, then they may need to find something inside the car that they can use to break the window.

However, one must be mindful of broken glass shards when exiting the vehicle and should not waste time grabbing any belongings.

If they cannot get out of the car, they can use a bag or something of that sort, such as a trash bag, to capture the remaining air before the water fills the entire vehicle. Although that will only help for a while, it will still make a difference and buy some time, within which rescuers can reach the person.