The California Highway Patrol was called to a report of a vehicle in the water off South Bear Creek Road, east of Piedmont Drive, just before 5 p.m. on Monday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from a previous broadcast and will be updated.
Officers arrived and found 43-year-old Andrew Paul Schindler inside the overturned car.
Investigators have not determined when the vehicle left the roadway and entered Bear Creek.
Authorities believe the crash may have occurred Sunday night.
Schindler was from Merced.