Car stolen in 2024 pulled out of river by Manitoba environmental group

A volunteer group removed a vehicle abandoned in the Red River that was spotted over the winter.

A Manitoba non-profit that’s driving a cleanup of the Red River has reeled in quite the catch.

A team from Métis-run Red River Revival was at the Netley Creek boat launch near Selkirk, Man. on Thursday, angling to recover a vehicle that was spotted beneath the ice earlier this winter.

“The dive team removed two others yesterday, as well, so this is not an uncommon problem,” explained Red River Revival executive director R.J. Kusmack.

Kusmack was inspired to form the group after nearly crashing into a couch while boating with his kids on the Red River.

The non-profit is billed as a water stewardship project, aimed at cleaning up the province’s waterways using unique technology.

Before they set out to recover the vehicle, the group met with wildlife biologists to make sure the retrieval wouldn’t have any adverse environmental impacts.

When they got the OK, they recruited a commercial dive team, which hooked the vehicle’s frame up to inflatable bags to float it to the surface.

“The car was not buried as much as I anticipated,” explained Ethan Hrehichuk, one of the divers who helped retrieve the vehicle.

“We’ve got a lot of silt in our river system here, so I was expecting halfway coverage and that I’d be digging by hand, but honestly, everything went pretty smooth.”

Vehicle reported stolen in 2024

Unsurprisingly, the vehicle ended up at the bottom of the river under some fishy circumstances.

Red River Revival gave the license plate number to Selkirk RCMP, which confirmed the vehicle was reported stolen in 2024.

Mounties were on hand at the dock as the vehicle was brought back to shore, in order to confirm there were no further elements of criminality.

Staff Sgt. Luc Samson said while the non-profit’s catch of the day is great for the overall health of the river, it also helps police remove a stolen vehicle from their growing registry.

“Two birds, one stone in that sense, yes, because sometimes we don’t know where those stolen vehicles might end up, so when these folks call us saying, ‘Hey, can you come have a look?’ by all means, we’ll be there.”

‘We’re doing it for the next generation’

The car is not Red River Revival’s strangest retrieval.

They’ve previously removed hundreds of shopping carts and even a barber’s chair – all of which can pollute the water system.

“These things end up sitting in the river, oftentimes for years,” explained Red River Revival board member Genico Aiello.

“Eventually they break down, so all the chemicals that are in a vehicle ends up in our rivers, and this all flows north, right? So it ends up in the lake.”

The non-profit is currently supported by donations and business partnerships but is hoping to secure government funding to expand capacity and buy necessary equipment, like a recovery boat.

“We’re doing it for the next generation, leaving our community cleaner than how we found it,” Kusmack explained.

“I don’t remember the river ever being this dirty. We want to take care of some big problems.”

- With files from CTV’s Jamie Dowsett