Body, Truck Found In Irrigation Canal Near Ephrata

An investigation is underway in Grant County after a the body of a Yakima man was discovered in an irrigation canal.

The Grant County Sheriff's Office says 55-year-old Kevin Kershaw was found deceased inside the canal off Road A Northwest near Ephrata at around 1:30 p.m. on July 3.

Sheriff's spokesperson, Kyle Foreman, says the discovery of Kershaw's body came after reports of his pickup truck being submerged in the canal further upstream.

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"Deputies surmise that, based on the evidence at the scene, he (Kershaw) drove down the canal road and then apparently tried to turn around and his wheels went off the edge of the road and he just got too far over when gravity took ahold and his truck went off the road and into the canal."

Foreman adds it's not yet known exactly how Kershaw died or why his body was found further downstream away from his vehicle.

"Somehow he ended up outside the vehicle. Whether he tried to escape the vehicle or was not belted up and was ejected, we don't know. But he was outside the vehicle and downstream from where it went in and we suspect that he was carried away by the current and drowned."

A recovery team from Columbia Basin Dive Rescue was called in to retrieve Kershaw's body and his vehicle.

The Grant County Coroner's Office is scheduled to perform an autopsy on Kershaw's body today to determine exactly how he died.

Foreman says it's not known if drugs or alcohol were a factor in Kershaw's death.