A vehicle has been found in the near Birchwood, northeast of Chattanooga in the Tennessee River at Blythe Ferry Road where a deputy and a female arrestee went missing on Wednesday night.
Authorities said it was the first arrest for Deputy Robert J. Leonard, who moved here from out of town and was not familiar with the roads.
Efforts were being made to lift the vehicle out of the water.
Authorities said the deputy texted his wife around 9 p.m. “arrest.”
A later garbled communication from the deputy sounded like “water,” it was stated.
The old road is now used mainly by fishermen putting in boats.
Deputy Leonard is the father of three children.
He had gone out to arrest a woman on drug charges.
