A driver found dead in a car in the California Aqueduct has been identified as a Walnut Creek woman, the Merced County sheriff’s office said.
The car, a red 2018 Audi, went into the aqueduct near Santa Nella on Saturday evening. Its only occupant was Susan Arlynn Waskow, 77, the sheriff’s report said.
According to the California Highway Patrol, another driver made an emergency call at 7:48 p.m. Saturday reporting that a car had gone off northbound Interstate 5 into the San Luis Canal section of the aqueduct, about a mile north of Highway 152. While the caller was on the line, the car went under the surface of the water.
It had hit a power pole after leaving the roadway, and the downed lines started a fire.
CHP officers couldn’t see where the submerged car was, and the Merced County sheriff’s office dive team was called in. The divers found the Audi with the woman inside; the car was pulled from the canal around 2 a.m., the CHP report said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com