Man found dead inside SUV submerged in creek with alligators, Texas officials say

Investigators discovered a 50-year-old man dead inside an SUV submerged in a creek, Texas officials say.

The state Department of Public Safety began investigating shortly after someone spotted the vehicle, mostly sunken in the murky water, and contacted authorities on the morning of Sunday, June 9, a spokesperson told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

DPS is the lead investigating agency on this case, according to officials.

Over the course of 4 to 5 hours, officials pulled the vehicle out of the water, KRIV reported. The recovery process was slowed by the presence of alligators in the creek, officials told the station.

Though the investigation is ongoing, it appears the man was traveling north on Honea Egypt Road before veering off a bridge and plummeting into the water, the DPS spokesperson said.

The crash site is a roughly 45-mile drive northwest from downtown Houston.

The driver, identified as Kristopher Lacy, lived near where the crash occurred, KHOU reported. Though family members said they had seen Lacy recently, investigators told the station that he had likely been in the water for 2 to 3 days before he was discovered.

However, DPS says it isn’t clear when the crash happened, or how long the SUV was submerged, and an autopsy is needed to answer those questions. And there aren’t many witnesses available to provide a timetable of the man’s whereabouts leading up to the crash.

“There was no one else in the vehicle,” the department said. “He didn’t have a large family and he lived by himself.”

It’s also unknown what caused the man to lose control.

“It could be anything right now,” the department said.

This story was originally published June 11, 2024 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Man found dead inside SUV submerged in creek with alligators, Texas officials say."