How to resolve AdBlock issue? NORTH COAST, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is investigating a solo-vehicle crash that claimed a Ukiah woman’s life near Hopland.
The CHP’s Ukiah Area office said investigators don’t yet know exactly when the crash occurred or why, but that it was discovered late in the day on Tuesday.
The name of the 69-year-old woman who died had not been released as of Tuesday night.
At 5 p.m. Tuesday the CHP Ukiah Communications Center was notified of a traffic collision on southbound Highway 101 just north of mile marker 5, near Frog Woman Rock. The reporting party was walking a dog in the area when they discovered the car.
Based on the investigation so far, the CHP said a 1997 Mercury Tracer was traveling southbound when it went off the roadway and off a dirt and grass embankment.
The Mercury hit the embankment and overturned onto its roof next to the Russian River, the CHP said.
The Hopland Fire Department, which responded to the scene, said the vehicle was found approximately 100 yards off the road, upside down on a sand bar next to the river.
The agency said firefighters found the driver deceased inside the vehicle.
A CHP helicopter from Golden Gate Air Ops assisted with the search of the scene and transporting the woman’s body from the riverbed to the roadside, Hopland Fire reported.
The driver was wearing her seat belt at the time of the wreck, according to the CHP.
The CHP said that it’s so far unknown if alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash.
Anyone who saw the crash or has any information can call the Ukiah Area CHP office at 707-467-4420.
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