NEWMAN - An aerial search for the driver who presumably drowned after driving an SUV into rain-swollen Orestimba Creek on Jan. 19 yielded no trace of the man, and investigators in the strange case say they have exhausted all leads in trying to determine his identity.

“There are a lot more questions than answers right now,” California Highway Patrol spokesman Eric Parsons said late Monday afternoon.

A California Highway Patrol helicopter searched Thursday without success for the man, who authorities believe tried to drive across Orestimba Creek on Eastin Road, which had been closed due to the flooding. Barricades and red lights were in place, police said, but the driver of the Ford Explorer apparently did not heed those warnings.

Two Newman police officers checking the water level of the creek at about 10:30 that evening heard a man’s cries for help and spotted him in the water. The officers were unable to rescue the man from the fast-moving creek, and he disappeared into the water.

Authorities said that if in fact the man drowned - which Parsons said could not be considered a certainty - his body could be lodged near where he was last seen or could have been carried far downstream by the strong current.

Without a definitive location, he added, it is not feasible to use a dive team in the recovery effort.

Efforts to identify the registered owner of the Explorer also hit a dead end.

No missing persons reports have been filed which may be associated with the incident.

The vehicle registration was traced to a Merced post office box. Rental forms linked the post office box to a Hughson address, but nobody at that address matched the name, Parsons said.

It is quite possible that the vehicle had been sold - perhaps repeatedly - but that the change of ownership paperwork had never been filed.

“The person who bought the vehicle may have never updated the information,” Parsons commented. “Our paper trail kind of fades.”