A vehicle that plunged into the North Thompson River in Canada over the May long weekend has been recovered, but the driver, identified as 24-year-old Benina Jepkoech, remains missing.

An Oregon-based dive team from Adventures With Purpose, working alongside the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), located and pulled the red Ford Focus from the river on Wednesday, September 30, near Schubert Drive and Spruce Avenue in Kamloops, British Columbia.

The team’s diver-in-command, Byron Leisek, described the recovery as bittersweet, saying they had hoped to find Jepkoech inside the vehicle.

Recovery of the vehicle

“Unfortunately, she wasn’t in the vehicle,” Leisek told CFJC Today.

Jepkoech was reportedly behind the wheel when the car plunged into the river. A 21-year-old passenger was rescued after three members of the public rushed to help following the crash.

One of the rescuers, Chaz Peterhans, said the vehicle narrowly missed a bench before plunging into the river.

The car was found approximately 12 feet underwater, significantly shallower than the 25-foot depth rescuers faced during the initial response in May.

Leisek said the vehicle had filled with sand and silt during the months it remained underwater, raising concerns that any evidence or possible remains could have been buried inside.

He explained that strong currents can carry a vehicle some distance while it is floating, but once it settles on the riverbed, it generally remains in place. The longer it stays underwater, he added, the more sediment accumulates inside and around it.

Adventures With Purpose had initially planned to recover the vehicle on September 26 but encountered what Leisek described as scheduling and bureaucratic issues over the recovery arrangements with the RCMP. The operation eventually proceeded on Wednesday.

Role of the dive team

The team used a marked line to locate the vehicle before attaching recovery equipment and working with a rotator and flatbed truck to pull it from the river.

Adventures With Purpose specialises in searching for missing people whose vehicles may have entered bodies of water. The organisation uses technology, including sonar, and does not charge families or law enforcement agencies for its searches.

Although the dive team has now completed its role in the case, Leisek said he hoped recovering the vehicle would provide some answers to Jepkoech’s family and friends.

Ongoing investigation efforts

Kamloops RCMP said the investigation remains active and officers are still trying to locate Jepkoech. Police have appealed to the public to report any information or possible sightings that could help establish her whereabouts.

“Our heart goes out to her family and friends,” Leisek said. “We wish we could have brought her home.”