Pickup truck found parked off Outer Banks in the Pamlico Sound. Was it bad GPS?

Hurricane Dorian is being blamed for putting a lot of strange things into the Pamlico Sound, but explanations have been tough to find for a pickup truck photographed this week in the New Inlet.

It was reported around sunrise Wednesday off Pea Island National Refuge by Kyle Barniak, a supervisor for The Grounds Pros OBX, and he posted multiple photos on Facebook.

“Not something you usually see on the morning drive,” he wrote.

Barniak says he lives on Hatteras Island and was driving along N.C. 12 when he saw the truck sitting well off shore.

“I literally did a double take,” he told McClatchy news group. “The sun was just coming up and it was very calm so the truck really stood out. It was about 200 feet from the parking lot directly west. It looked like he was driving into the water.”

A boat was reported nearby, tied to the bank, and Barniak said he thought perhaps someone’s pickup accidentally rolled into the inlet while launching a boat.

“However, the truck was facing the wrong direction and I could not see a trailer,” he told McClatchy. “I looked around to make sure there was no one in trouble and headed on my way.”

News of the strange discovery comes just a week after Cape Hatteras National Seashore warned Outer Banks visitors they may find strange things exposed by the high winds and heavy surf of Hurricane Dorian earlier this month.

Barniak says the pickup vanished from the water later Wednesday, but not before news coverage inspired comparisons to the red Jeep Grand Cherokee that infamously sat on a South Carolina beach during Hurricane Dorian.

Countless theories about the pickup truck’s predicament have been shared on social media, including the possibility a crab fisherman fell asleep at the wheel, blindly followed his GPS, or thought the spot was shallow enough to drive across.

Memes have also begun to show up, one featuring a guy kayaking alongside the pickup.

“At least nobody will park next to him and ding his door,” posted Lynn King Jones on Facebook.

“Drove that Chevy to the levy just a touch too far!” said Lynn Deatherage.

“Everybody knows nothing attracts crabs like a Chevy!” wrote Kevin Russell.

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Pickup truck found parked off Outer Banks in the Pamlico Sound. Was it bad GPS?."