OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Divers plan to plunge into the chilly waters of Lake Crescent this weekend to retrieve human remains found earlier this year near a 75-year-old car crash.
A three-man team from the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center and Olympic National Park Ranger Dan Pontbriand will create an underwater map of the area about 170 feet below the surface of the lake.
They plan to take an inventory of the wreckage and remove human remains beginning Saturday.
Weather permitting, the team will use a remotely-operated vehicle, or ROV, Saturday to examine the underwater wreckage of the 1927 Chevrolet that plunged into the lake from the Olympic Highway 75 years ago.
Then on Sunday and Monday, divers will go into the 52-degree water to document and take an inventory of the site, and bring human remains to the surface.
“The idea is not just to remove the remains, but to document the site — essentially, this is like an archaeological recovery,” said Brett Seymour, project coordinator and Submerged Resources Center photographer.