BIG SKY – At approximately 9 a.m. this morning, a Ford Taurus sedan rolled off a steep embankment along Highway 191, and into the Gallatin River.
When Big Sky Fire and Gallatin County Sheriffs departments arrived, the occupant was no longer on scene.
The vehicle was heading southbound on 191 near the bridge at mile marker 49 before rolling across the gravel pullout on the east side of the highway and plunging into the swollen river.
There was no evidence the driver used the brakes to stop the vehicle, but a skid mark suggested the driver was dragging a foot before the car crashed into the river, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Brandon Velazquez.
Two first responders from the Big Sky Fire Department hiked approximately 1 mile downstream but were unable to locate the vehicle’s occupant. The car is registered to a Bozeman resident, according to Trooper Velazquez, but law enforcement would not identify the owner of the vehicle pending an investigation.