DENVER (KDVR) — A person was found dead after police responded to a car completely upside down in the South Platte River, the Denver Police Department said.
The car was found overturned in the water around W. Florida Avenue and S. Platte River Drive. Initially, DPD said there were no occupants located but shortly after reported one person was found deceased.
DPD’s initial investigation indicated a man was driving southbound at 12:20 a.m. on Jason Street and failed to stop at a stop sign, crashing into the river. DPD was notified around 9:30 a.m. of the crash. It’s not clear if speed or impairment were factors in the crash at this time.
Several first responders were seen in the river and around the area of the upside-down car that was almost completely submerged with only the back tires sticking out of the water.
FOX31 reached out to the city to see if this crash and the history of crashes in the area have officials considering any safety changes.
We received the following statement from a spokesperson with the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure:
“We will need to look at the circumstances of this particular incident and the police report when it is finalized to determine what happened and if an engineering solution or safety improvements could be made to prevent this particular incident from happening again.”
UPDATE: The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Maximilian Ryan. The cause of his death is still under investigation.