The body of a motorist who drove off the edge of a pier has been recovered after nearly a week in the water but police are yet to reveal any details about who the person is or what drove them to their death.

Horrific footage emerged last week showing the car smash through barriers on Virginia Beach Fishing Pier on Saturday morning and plunge over the edge. 

Crews have now finally been able to remove the vehicle and its occupant from the water, after a rescue mission earlier this morning after five days of high winds that made the recovery effort too dangerous. 

It remains unconfirmed if the driver is male or female, or if police have any indication of why they drove off the pier.  

The vehicle was a red Nissan Kicks SUV, which did not have any license plates, police said. It was quickly covered in a tarp after being rescued from the depths. 

Crews have now finally been able to remove the vehicle and its occupant from the water

The vehicle was a red Nissan Kicks SUV, which did not have any license plates, police said. It was quickly covered in a tarp after being rescued from the depths

Video captured at the scene by WAVY show the vehicle being pulled from the water by a barge.

Police had attempted to recover the vehicle for several days but the weather had halted their progress. 

A crane barge lifted the SUV from the water and onto the vessel, where workers covered it with a tarp. 

Police said they have been contacted by a family that has a missing male relative, with the case sharing 'similarities to facts and circumstances'.

In a statement about the rescue, Virginia Beach Police said: 'We are pleased to share the vehicle recovery phase of this investigation has been successfully completed, with all involved responders safe and unharmed.

'At this time, we can confirm one deceased occupant was recovered along with a red Nissan Kicks. The vehicle does not have a license plate attached.

'Once removed from the vehicle, Medical Examiner pathologists will be tasked with identifying the occupant. At which time an official identification is made, we will notify the occupant’s next of kin.' 

Sonar imaging released on Monday showed the wreckage and eerie footage from the ROV was released by police, but showed very little of the car.

The red Nissan seemed to brake before the end before driving over the edge of the pier

The pier is 650 feet long and the water at the end is around 15ft deep. Water temperatures are around in the mid-40s 

The water was too murky and the sea too rough to obtain any distinguishing features of the vehicle such as the license plate or who may be inside.

Footage of the car driving on the pier showed a pedestrian walking along a footpath as the SUV screams past, first crossing a bike path and then on to the wooden boardwalk of the pier.

The vehicle braked briefly before slamming through the wooden balustrade at the end of the pier and straight over the edge plunging into the sea. 

A woman standing on the beach caught the incident on camera when she heard a loud crash and started filming. 

Virginia Beach Fire Department were on the scene within four minutes and sent a diver into the water to investigate and rescue anyone inside the car.

The vehicle braked briefly before slamming through the wooden balustrade at the end of the pier and straight over the edge plunging into the sea 

Some of the damaged barriers are seen lying on the ground at the entrance to the pier

By the time the police department were on scene, the divers had already been pulled from the water.

Witnesses said the car turned onto the boardwalk from Atlantic Avenue at speed and crashed through the first set of barriers on the pier. 

One of the women who caught the incident on camera, Kaylynn Crawford, told WAVY: 'We saw at first it was going really fast. We thought it was just going to go for it.

'But toward the end, the car started to slow down, and it kind of looked as if it almost teeter-tottered at the end. Then, it all of a sudden just dropped down over the pier.'

Charlotte Murphy, who works at a seafood restaurant on the pier, told the outlet: 'They went through three gates which is pretty crazy and these are really, really strong gates. It's really crazy to think about.

'As soon as I got down here I was like, 'Holy cow that is the craziest thing that I've heard in a long, long time.'

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