Crews Work on Sunk Vehicle in Little Muskego

Crews were hovering over a cut-out in the 16-inch thick ice on Little Muskego Lake on a windy Thursday, hoping to snag the big one.

Far from a typical ice fishing scenario however, the catch was a vehicle that broke through the ice after a 17-year-old Muskego teen attempted to drive across the lake last month.

Neighbor Heidi Lindhorst invited Patch out to get a closer look at the latest attempt, and admittedly visions of the TV show "Dirty Jobs" came to mind.

An ice boat was parked near a square opening in the ice, cut out by chainsaws in a precarious operation to finally remove the vehicle from the water. Jim Bacon, who works for Fox Towing in Fox Lake, IL, told us the vehicle was resting about 20 feet below the ice's surface.

"This has been much more difficult than we expected, as we were told the ice wasn't that thick. However, it's 16 inches, which means that we've had a lot more work to do," Bacon said.

An earlier attempt had hooked up a cable to the car, or so Bacon thought. A camera submerged in the lake revealed the car had not been attached. The result was a painstaking operation to reattach a cable.

About 100 yards offshore, the car will be dragged underneath the ice then to hopefully re-emerge through a second cut out at the shoreline via a winch anchored on the land.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources does assess fines for each day "an obstruction to navigation" like a vehicle is in the water, and they vary from $10 to $500. In addition, the costs of removal are also assessed to the owner, which the city may take action to recover.

The crew was at work on Thursday for a few hours, and was not sure how soon the operation would be completed. Bacon explained that while the towing company likes a challenge, it's rare that it's for removing a car under the ice.

"Illinois doesn't allow cars to drive on the ice," he explained.