COAL TOWNSHIP - Two people were found dead Tuesday in a Jeep that was submerged in the Shamokin Creek near Big Mountain Road.
Police do not suspect foul play in the deaths of a man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s, whom they have not identified pending notification of next of kin, according to Detective Jeffrey Brennan.
"At this time, the deaths do not appear to be suspicious," he reported in a media release Tuesday night.
Brennan said emergency personnel were dispatched to a wooded area near an unnamed road just off Big Mountain Road at 4:25 p.m. after two bodies were found in a black Jeep Wrangler that was partially submerged in three to four feet of water in Shamokin Creek.
The Northumberland County Coroner's Office arrived at the scene and pronounced a female in her 20s and a male in his 30s dead, Brennan reported.
The Coal Township Fire Department and Shamokin Fire Department assisted at the scene in removing the bodies from the vehicle. At approximately 6:45 p.m., emergency personnel from Coal Township were seen carrying two body bags along a dirt road on private abandoned coal lands before two Northumberland County Coroner's vehicles drove away from the scene at 7 p.m.
Brennan reported the bodies were taken to Shamokin Area Community Hospital.
Missing for days
Although names have not yet been confirmed, dozens of Facebook users discussed the incident and the people believed to be involved. Some said the victims had been missing for days.
At the end of Shamokin Street in the city, fire police blocked traffic.
A woman standing along the sidewalk of Shamokin Street and crying declined comment, but was overheard saying the people might have been missing since Christmas Day.
More emergency personnel were stationed at the top of the dirt road, where it meets Big Mountain Road, blocking access to the scene.
Friends or family members of the deceased stood at the staging area, waiting for information.
At 10:30 p.m., police and firefighters were formulating a plan to tow the jeep from the wooded area with a bulldozer and tow truck.
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