The Times-Standard
EUREKA, Calif. — A Rio Dell woman was seriously injured after the car she was driving went off the road west of Grizzly Creek Campground, trapping in her car for more than 48 hours, until she was found by a woman walking her dog.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Cara Duke, 34, of Rio Dell, was driving a 1987 Pontiac Firebird at 9:30 a.m. on Friday eastbound on State Route 36, west of the Grizzly Creek Campground.
The CHP said Duke was traveling at an unsafe speed, estimated to be 50 mph, when she allowed her vehicle to travel over the double yellow lines and into the westbound lane. When she attempted to regain control of her vehicle, it rotated approximately 180 degrees back across the eastbound lane and over the dirt shoulder on the south side of the highway.
The CHP said Duke’s vehicle continued down the steep mountain embankment for approximately 120 feet, hit a dirt trail, overturned and came to rest on its right side in a location where it was not visible from the highway.
Duke suffered a fractured lower back, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung and was unable to escape the vehicle. At 11:50 a.m. Sunday, the CHP said. Eureka resident Alice Vasterling was walking her dog down a trail toward the river and discovered Duke’s vehicle and called 911.
Emergency personnel from the Carlotta Volunteer Fire Department, Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, CalFire, the CHP and City Ambulance responded to the scene. Duke was taken to Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna.
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