Police Recover Car That Plunged Into Calumet River Last Weekend, Leaving Man Dead

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Police Marine Unit on Thursday recovered a car that plunged into the Calumet River several days earlier.

With the help of divers, special equipment, and Coast Guard boats to direct traffic, crews lifted the vehicle out of the water Thursday.

The recovery will help police continue their investigation into an incident Sunday night that left 38-year-old Jaime Navarro dead.

His 16-year-old son was also in the car, but he survived.

Witnesses said at 6:49 p.m., the 38-year-old father was driving north on Torrence Avenue near the bridge at what would be about 124th Street in the South Deering community, when the car went through a retention net and into the water as the bridge was going up. The bridge at the site is a vertical lift bridge, rather than a bascule bridge like the downtown Chicago bridges.

The teenage boy was rescued by a passing boat, police said.