Woman’s body recovered after pickup found in water off Mukilteo

MUKILTEO — A dive team recovered a woman’s body Thursday morning after a ferry captain spotted the top of a submerged pickup off the Mukilteo waterfront, officials said.

Law officers are investigating why the vehicle ended up in the water. The incident was captured on surveillance video, Mukilteo police officer Cheol Kang said.

“The truck did drive off the deck of the ferry terminal pier around 2:30 this morning,” Kang said Thursday.

The vehicle wasn’t discovered until several hours later.

It was not immediately clear how the truck got around a gate arm controlling traffic onto the pier, Kang said.

The woman is believed to be 45, from Woodinville. Her body was turned over to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.

A dive team from the Snohomish County sheriff’s office recovered the body shortly before 7:30 a.m.

“By the time the first response got there, the vehicle was pretty much submerged,” Kang said.

Police were notified of the situation shortly before 7 a.m. The body was recovered northwest of the ferry dock.

Ferry traffic resumed a few minutes later.

Initial reports indicated a ferry captain spotted the roof of a vehicle under about five feet of water, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. The vehicle appeared to be a 2000 Dodge full-sized pickup.

“The divers found some damage on the windshield of the vehicle,” Kang said.

The Washington State Patrol reviewed video footage from the ferry dock Thursday morning, trooper Keith Leary said.

Several other agencies assisted, including the Mukilteo Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard.

A tow truck was on the scene at 9:30 a.m.

The Mukilteo ferry dock has been a place where people have deliberately ended their lives. Among the suicides was one in 1998, when a man drove his pickup off the ferry dock just hours before he was scheduled to begin serving more than 10 years in prison for his wife’s murder.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.