Police puzzle over 4 dead in submerged car

KINGSTON, Ontario, July 3 (UPI) -- The car from which four bodies were recovered in Kingston, Ontario, took an unusual route to plunge into the Rideau Canal, police said.

Autopsies were conducted on the four Montreal women in Ottawa Thursday although results could take weeks, the Toronto Star reported.

Kingston police identified the victims as Rona Amir Mohammed, 50, and her nieces, Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, and Geeti Shafia, 13. They lived in a borough of Montreal and were headed home from a visit with a Toronto-area friend, police said.

Tuesday morning, a worker at the lock system spotted a sheen of oil on the water and then saw the black Nissan Altima in 10 feet of water, the report said.

Constable Michael Menor told reporters the car was being tested for mechanical problems. He said the car had taken a circuitous route from the road to the water but there was no sign of skid marks or high speed on the grass approaching the lock. The car had to pass over a low concrete barrier and through a series of steel poles to reach the water, he said.