MEXICO, Maine — A vehicle that was swept away by floodwaters in Mexico on Monday has been found, and a body was recovered along with it, Mexico town officials said Wednesday. Another person involved in the incident remains missing.
Search efforts have been underway for two people who were traveling in the vehicle, which was swept away by floodwaters Monday evening off Route 2 in Mexico.
Mexico police Chief Roy Hodsdon said they discovered on Wednesday the pickup truck that was swept away Monday by the Swift River, and the body of a 61-year-old woman was found inside.
The truck was located about 30 feet away from the Main Street bridge that connects Rumford and Mexico.
Four people were inside the vehicle while they were about to cross over the Red Bridge into Rumford. However, while the driver reportedly was trying to turn around, the "vehicle got swept into rising flood waters of the Swift River" just before 5 p.m., Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said Tuesday in a news release.
Two people were able to get to safety, but two others remained missing, Moss said. One of the people who is missing was able to get out of the vehicle but couldn't get to safety, and another individual was still trapped inside when the car was swept away, the release stated.
Mexico police, the Maine Warden Service, and the Maine State Police are working together in the search and investigation.
Hodsdon said Wednesday that the search for the other missing person would resume at daybreak, with the utilization of drones and search dogs.
The two people who were rescued were brought to Rumford Hospital, where they were treated for hypothermia. Their conditions and identities were not shared in the release.
The Department of Public Safety urged extreme caution for those traveling in areas where there is a risk of flooding and asked the public to "respect" road closures and avoid traversing flooded roadways.
Boats are being deployed to help people in the area who are trapped in floodwaters, and a shelter has been set up at Mountain Valley High School at 799 Hancock St. in Rumford, the agency said.
Two more people died from injuries related to the Monday storm. A male from Fairfield was fatally injured while trying to remove a downed tree with his tractor, and a Windham man who was working to clear debris from his roof was fatally struck when part of a tree came down on him, killing him immediately.