A vehicle that had been missing since it was reported stolen in Ahoskie, N.C., in October was found partially submerged in a pond owned by International Paper on Thursday.

An IP environmental engineer doing his rounds at the paper mill’s main holding pond on Camp Pond Road in southwest Suffolk noticed the 1999 white Pontiac Grand Am on Thursday morning, according to Desmond Stills, IP’s public information officer.

The 1,460-acre pond is used to hold the water left over from the mill’s processes, Stills said. The water is treated before it is sent to the pond, where it then sits until the pond is drained once a year. The pond has a seven-mile circumference, and its level rises throughout the year until the time arrives to drain it.

It was this year’s drainage that exposed the vehicle, Stills said.

The car was unoccupied when it was found, according to Suffolk spokeswoman Debbie George. She said it was registered in Franklin but had been reported stolen from Ahoskie on Oct. 11, 2009.