Stolen BMW Discovered in Concho River With It's Lights On

SAN ANGELO, TX — A BMW that was reported stolen from the PaulAnn neighborhood of San Angelo was found in the Concho River in South Concho Park overnight.

Police responded to a report of a sighting of the car. Several witnesses observed the car, with its lights on, in the river. The citizens were concerned there were occupants perhaps trapped inside.

San Angelo Fire Department and police determined there were no occupants. Home Motors wrecking service pulled the car out of the river while police worked on solving the mystery.

[[{"fid":"41776","view_mode":"wysiwyg","fields":{"class":"media-element file-full","data-delta":"1","format":"wysiwyg"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"class":"media-element file-full","data-delta":"1","format":"wysiwyg"}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-wysiwyg","data-delta":"1"}}]]

Since the car was stolen, the police called the car’s owners. The owners arrived at the scene and produced to police their only two keys. The BMW’s push button ignition operates with a remote key FOB, the remote device used to start a BMW. Police were researching how the car was started and able to be driven without the FOB.

A quick search on the Internet reveals ways car thieves are stealing late model cars equipped with FOB keys and push button start, like this BMW has. Watch how this Mercedes was stolen in the UK:

[[{"fid":"41778","view_mode":"wysiwyg","fields":{"format":"wysiwyg"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"wysiwyg"}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-wysiwyg","data-delta":"2"}}]]

The car was discovered at around midnight Sunday morning. Police said it is common to find abandoned stolen vehicles dumped in the water around town, particularly Lake Nasworthy and the Concho River. The water damage, particularly from the dirty Concho River, makes processing fingerprints difficult.