While police divers located the car matching that belonging to Daron Graves, and eventually raised it to the surface of the Ottawa River, David Graves was trying to make sense of what happened to his family.

Autopsies and toxicology tests will be carried out on the bodies of Donna and Daron Graves this week.

David Graves insisted his son, whose 2013 Dodge Dart was pulled from the water around midnight Monday, would not drink and drive, was not a reckless driver or somebody to take risks.

Daron also was not depressed, his father said.

"From the moment I knew my wife was missing, I knew something was wrong," said Graves.

Dog rescued from river 4 days earlier

On Tuesday, Graves reflected on a rescue the previous weekend on the river in front of their home, after Daron's dog Amira went through the ice.

"I called him up, I said, 'I need your help, we gotta get Amira out of the river,'" recalled Graves.

The father and son pushed an aluminum boat out onto the ice and clawed their way toward the dog.

"Amira was hanging on and we're talking to her, 'We're coming, we're coming, we're coming.'"

Finally, both reached the dog and Daron grabbed on to Amira.

"I looked at my son and I said, 'Daron, I can't tell you how proud I am of you," David Graves said.

Four days later, Daron and his mother fell through the same ice after the car they were in plunged off the end of Ferry Road and into the Ottawa River.

Investigators are examining Daron's car to see whether a mechanical malfunction may have contributed to the crash.