Police Waiting For Cause Of Death For Tyler Couple
Police are waiting autopsy results on an elderly Tyler couple whose car plunged into a pond Sunday night.
Jake Smith, 87, and his wife, Betty, 82, were killed when their car crashed through a fence and went under water in the pond at the 2000 block of Woodlake Drive at Robertson Avenue.
Don Martin, Tyler Police Department’s public information officer, said the investigation determined Mrs. Smith was driving and that she struck two trees before plunging into the water.
Funeral services are pending with Burks Walker Tippit Funeral Directors in Tyler.
Smith was a former president of Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce.
Police and fire officials responded at 9:19 p.m. Sunday when Doug Marshall, who lives nearby, heard the wreck and called 911.
Marshall at first saw the headlights of the car underneath the water and dived in attempting to rescue the couple.
“I thought, ‘there are people drowning under the water,’” he said. “But the lights turned off. I couldn’t find anything.”
Police officers joined the rescue attempt. They located the car and pulled out the couple.
“Oh God, oh God,” said Marshall, recalling the moment he identified the Joneses, who were his neighbors.
On the normally quiet private street, the noise of the car caused Marshall to call 911 as he ran toward the pond.
“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said. “But I saw the car lights in the water and thought ‘There are people in there.’”
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