California mom's body left submerged in river for days after fatal car crash
ISLETON, Calif. -- A Northern California mother was killed in a car crash, and days later authorities still can’t get to her body, CBS San Francisco station KPIX-TV reports.
Her family is outraged.
The California Highway Patrol says the incident happened Sunday night when 48-year-old Nichelle Johnson was driving from Bay Point to Sacramento to visit her sister. They found her car off state Highway 160.
Investigators believe she lost control of her car and drove into the Sacramento River in Isleton.
But authorities aren’t able to retrieve her body until Saturday at the earliest. They say recent storms have delayed the recovery process.
Some witnesses tried to pull the body out but couldn’t. Divers found the car Sunday night and attached orange buoys to mark the submerged car.
But the highway patrol says they didn’t have enough volunteer divers to safely retrieve the car.
The family and many people are outraged by the response.
The victim’s daughter, Mikaela Hampton, said, “This doesn’t make sense. This happened Sunday night. My mom should have been out that water Monday morning.”
Haydee Perry, who lives half a block from the crash site, said, “I’m hurt in my heart. It was my family member, I would be climbing down there in that water, I would strap up and I would get her out myself.”
The highway patrol says a dive team will try and recover the body Saturday morning, but if the river and weather conditions change, they may have to push it back.
