Body Of Toddler Recovered 2 Weeks After Tragic Aqueduct Crash
HESPERIA (CBSLA.com) — Two weeks after three members of his family died in a crash into the California Aqueduct, the body of a toddler who was also in the car and had been missing since the crash was recovered by a sheriff's dive team.
The body believed to be 2-year-old Noah Abbott was recovered from the aqueduct south of Farmington at 7th Avenue in Hesperia Thursday.
Scientific positive identification is pending and will be determined by the Coroner's Office.
Noah was in a red Volkswagen convertible with his 31-year-old mother Christina Eileen Estrada, and his brothers, 3-year-old Jeremiah Robert Abbott and 10-year-old Elijah Estrada when it crashed through a guardrail and into the aqueduct, becoming fully submerged, on March 2 at about 6:40 p.m.
Elijah was found in the aqueduct holding on to flotation buoys, and told deputies that three more members of his family were inside the car. He was hospitalized and eventually released to recover at home with his family.
Jeremiah was found by a dive team and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. When the car was pulled from the water, Christina Estrada's body was found inside.
San Bernardino County sheriff's Dive Team members searched for Noah's body over the next two days, but zero visibility in the water hampered the search and the team had to stop when full water pressure returned to the aqueduct.
Deputies were assigned to patrol the roadway parallel to the aqueduct to watch for any signs of Noah.