Man, 25, found dead inside car after vehicle goes into Lake Ontario west of Toronto

Peel police are investigating after a 25-year-old man was found dead inside a car that plunged into Lake Ontario in Mississauga early Thursday morning.

Peel police received a call at around 3 a.m. about a vehicle in the water near Lakefront Promenade and Lakeshore Road East.

Two men were inside the vehicle at the time, police said.

One of the men managed to escape from the vehicle following the incident but police were unable to immediately determine the whereabouts of the other occupant.

Due to poor visibility under the water, police said crews were unable to determine if there was anyone inside the sedan and the body of the missing occupant was not discovered until around 1 p.m. after a towing company pulled the vehicle from the water.

Next-of-kin has been notified and the deceased has been identified as a 25-year-old Mississauga man. His name has not been released.

A post-mortem exam will be conducted to determine the victim's cause of death.

The surviving occupant was not injured during the incident. Police have not released his age or place of residence but say he is cooperating with the investigation.

"They have and are continuing to speak with our investigators so that our officers can try to piece together exactly what happened here so that we can determine what led to this tragic circumstance," Const. Akhil Mooken told reporters during a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

The relationship between the two men has not been disclosed.

It is unclear how the car ended up in the water but Mooken said it went into the lake via a boat launch in the area.

Mooken would not say whether it was the deceased or the surviving occupant that was driving the car at the time of the collision.

He said the incident is being treated as suspicious at this time.

"As in many of our death investigations, we will treat it as suspicious until we are able to prove otherwise," Mooken said.

"It is still early in the investigative process so we want to make sure we speak to everyone involved."

He noted that all factors, including weather conditions, are being considered.

Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to contact investigators with the 12 Division Criminal Investigations Bureau.