Posted on 12/17/2002 8:42:22 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Edited on 04/12/2004 5:47:05 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Carlsbad Detective Sgt. Bob Wick, left, looks for evidence as tow truck driver Rusty Russell helps remove a car from the Auga Hedionda Creek in Carlsbad early Tuesday. Three women died and two were injured trying to cross the swollen creek Monday night after heavy rains.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The women apparently were driving toward a migrant workers' camp in the hills of eastern Carlsbad, north of San Diego, late Monday.
As the women drove their 1991 Mazda across Agua Hedionda Creek, the car stalled, Carlsbad Fire Battalion Chief Tom Dana said. The women opened their doors, causing the car to flood. It flipped upside down and was swept 50 feet downstream before becoming lodged on rocks.
Two women managed to climb out and on top of the upturned vehicle, where they were rescued by firefighters. The bodies of the other three women were found in the car.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as: Rosa Maria Marcos Santos, 40; Guillermina Hernandez Ramos, 21; and Maria Isabel Melquides Mora, 24.
They lived in Vista, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. The Mexican Consulate in San Diego said it was trying to determine whether any of the women were originally from Mexico.
The two surviving women - Maria Garcia, 29, and Lucia Gomez, 25 - were treated at a hospital and released.
At the Medical Examiner's Office, two sisters and a cousin of the victims arrived to identify the dead. As they went into an office to view photos, their sobs and cries could be heard from the lobby.
Afterward, the women huddled together and walked quickly to a waiting truck without speaking to reporters.
Under clearing skies Tuesday, Agua Hedionda Creek returned to normal levels and vehicles drove across the bridge that the women had attempted to cross.
Three plastic-wrapped bouquets of daisies and sunflowers sat on a rock next to the flowing stream.
The undeveloped area of fields and hills sits at the edge of a new housing tract and near a set of apartments. Migrant workers live in plywood sheds next to fields where flowers are grown.
One man who declined to give his name said in Spanish that the women may have been "party girls," or prostitutes, who intended to visit workers at a packing shed where the men often gather. "But that's just my guess," he said.
Carlsbad police said they had no information on why the women were heading to the area.
"I think they're just unfortunately victims who went through the wrong place at the wrong time," Lt. Don Rawson said.
Tim Barlow, who owns a ranch next to the creek, rode a tractor collecting hay for his horses Tuesday near the scene of the accident.
"I don't know why they were so determined to get to wherever they needed to be, but they should have known that conditions were dangerous," he said. "They should have waited."
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Associated Press writer Michelle Morgante in San Diego contributed to this story.
No none of those, but I can tell you, it got down to 64 degrees today, and I just hope this cold snap don't last. I've hadenuf!
...
Power outages - Oh well what can you do
Gang violence, ho hum
Armed robbery, nothing to see here, move along
Out of control wild fires, "do you smell something burning?"
High speed police chases on the freeway, "turn on the TV, dude"
Tobacco - Oooh, oooh a cigarette!! Oh my god, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too true, unfortunately.
People on 'ludes should not drive, dude.
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