Daughters die when mother loses control of truck, plunges into Russian River

Two young sisters died Tuesday when their mother lost control of their pickup on a coastal highway slick from morning fog and plunged into the Russian River near Jenner, the California Highway Patrol said.

The accident occurred about 8:30 a.m. on the outskirts of town where State Route 1 rises and then curves to the east, according to CHP Officer Jonathan Sloat.

The 32-year-old Jenner woman was driving her Ford F-250 about 35 mph when it slipped and she possibly over-corrected, sending the truck tumbling off the dirt shoulder and 40 feet down into the river, officials said.

“As it began to sink, the driver broke out a window,” the CHP said in a news release. “She attempted to reach her two daughters in the back seat, but the truck rapidly sank in approximately 15-20 feet of water.”

The girls, 4 and 7 years old, died. A truck driver and three sheriff’s deputies who arrived also jumped in to try and save the girls.

“It affected everybody that was out there. Firefighters, paramedics, sheriff’s deputies,” Sloat said. “You have a distraught mother and they’re bringing up her two children.”

It does not appear drugs, alcohol or distraction from a cellphone appeared to be a factor in the crash, but the investigation is ongoing, Sloat said.

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UPDATES:

1:55 p.m.: This article has been updated with details of the crash.

This article was originally published at 11:55 a.m.