Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit is investigating the death of a driver whose SUV was found halfway submerged in Lake Marion, Haines City last evening. Preliminary information is as follows:
Around 8:50 p.m. on Friday, January 9, 2026, the PCSO received a call from a resident in the area who reported seeing lights and a vehicle partially submerged (with its front end in the lake) at the end of the Lake Marion boat ramp on Lake Marion in Haines City, off of Jim Edwards Road and Edwards Shores. The rear portion of the 2015 burnt orange Honda CRV was sticking up and out of the water.
When PCSO deputies and Polk County Fire Rescue personnel arrived, they located the 64-year-old driver, a Lake Wales man, still seat-belted in the driver’s seat and under the water. They removed him from the vehicle and performed CPR; he was transported to a local hospital, where he was declared deceased a short time later.
A small dog was swimming inside the air pocket in the rear of the vehicle. The dog was rescued and will be turned over to the man’s next of kin. Aerial drones and underwater drones were deployed but no other victims were found.
According to the man’s family, they called him around 6:30 p.m.because they had been in a vehicle crash (unrelated) in Lake Hamilton, and they asked him to respond. He did not show up and they were unaware what had happened to him. I do not have information about that crash.
According to the evidence at the scene, it appears the Honda was northbound on Jim Edwards Road and failed to turn onto West Lake Marion Road, continuing north onto the boat ramp and into the water. The driver’s window was down. The airbags did not deploy and there is no damage to the vehicle indicating that it had struck anything other than the water.
An autopsy will determine the man’s exact cause of death. The investigation is ongoing. There were no witnesses or video evidence of the crash located. A photo from the scene is attached.
