5-yr-old survives 10 days after crash kills mom!

[gofaster]

Holy crap!

This has gotta be a traumatic experience for the child.  I assume the mother suffered in her final days.  Bad deal all around.

Guess I should think about keeping a bottle of water and some Powerbars in the 4runner, just in case.

Girl, 5, Found Over a Week After Crash

By BRUCE HARING
Associated Press Writer

 
 
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A 5-year-old girl found in a ravine survived on dry noodles and Gatorade while remaining near her dead mother following a car crash more than a week ago, relatives and authorities said.

The girl, apparently uninjured, was identified as Ruby Bustamante, the daughter of Norma Bustamante, 26, of Indio, said Jane Evans, nursing supervisor at Riverside Regional Medical Center. They were reported missing April 4.

California Department of Transportation workers repairing a road barrier Tuesday morning found the girl, her mother's body and a wrecked Ford Taurus 150 feet down a ravine off the 60 Freeway between Moreno Valley and the Banning Pass, said Chris Blondon, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The car had crashed about 10 days ago, and the girl was hungry and thirsty but unhurt, Blondon said in a statement.

Relatives gathered at the hospital late Tuesday where Evans said Ruby was in stable condition.

 
Bill Cooney, the girl's great-grandfather, told local TV networks that Ruby told him she survived on ramen noodles and Gatorade. Ruby also said her mother was alive for "a couple days" after the crash, he said.

Cooney criticized the CHP and other authorities for not searching for Bustamante and her daughter when they were first reported missing April 4.

The woman's body was badly decomposed, and the coroner's office did not expect to identify it for several days, said Riverside County Deputy Coroner Rebecca Mendoza.

Banning is about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

[Wanker]

OMG, that is so sad. Sometimes, the misery that is endured by humans in this world is unbelievable.

[Eagler]

yep the girl lived, hopefully she will get past the trama and have a decent life

[Hawklore]

Sad thing is, her move survived the crash and I'm not siding with anyone here but the highway patrol should of found them sooner.. But a to the mom for feeding her kid then leaving for help, R.I.P. What was the cause of the crash anyone know yet?

[midnight Target]

Just down the road from me. I live in Moreno Valley.

That part of the 60 freeway is called the "Badlands". You'll see it in many old westerns. Basically it is a winding bit of road that has some turnoffs and ravines along the way. It is hard to stop through there, and I can see why it took so long for the wreck to be discovered.

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Hawklore
What was the cause of the crash anyone know yet?

I'm guessing she lost control and crashed through the guard rail, since the D.O.T. was there to fix a damaged rail and found the Ford Taurus in the ravine below.

I would think a CHP helicopter could've spotted the wreck, assuming the car could be seen from the air.  Hopefully questions will be asked.  I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit was brought against  the CHP for failure to act, since the mom survived for at least a couple days after the accident.  It sounds like they were reported missing on the same day as the accident (April 4).

Hard to tell from the article if the mom fed the child or if the child was smart enough to feed herself.

[midnight Target]

Originally posted by gofaster
I'm guessing she lost control and crashed through the guard rail, since the D.O.T. was there to fix a damaged rail and found the Ford Taurus in the ravine below.

 

Very windy road and many accidents through there. People think they can still go 75 just cause it's a freeway. I think a helicopter could miss the car very easily.

[B17Skull12]

the car was hidden under a tree.

[midnight Target]

Just saw 2 of the network news vans leaving town.