Divers return to the river bed. The car is intact, right side up, embedded in river silt. By 6 p.m. Schmitz and Strong have arranged for high-powered tow trucks to come from St. Joseph, and cables are attached to the car. Yellow nylon straps are wrapped around the trunk so it won't pop open on the trip to the surface. The chugging of the cable winch is the only sound along the shore this evening.
Nobody speaks much as the car is dragged out of the mud, slowly along the river bottom toward shore.
Slowly, the rest of the hood emerges, creating a V-shaped eddy in the water just downstream. Seven years under water has left the body rusty and almost black. But the car, aside from some missing windows, appears to be in amazingly good shape. The silence is reverent. By 7 p.m., they note the piece of driftwood that had been jammed between the driver's side door and the gas pedal, and the rolled up carpet padding in the trunk.