A 43-year-old Northern California woman was found dead Wednesday in a car submerged in floodwaters in Sonoma County, officials said.
The woman was identified as Daphne Fontino of Ukiah, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. She was found in a car submerged in roughly 8 to 10 feet of water about 100 yards off Trenton-Healdsburg Road in Forestville.
Dispatchers on Tuesday at about 10:08 a.m. received a 911 call regarding a car that was stuck in floodwaters along the 6000 block of Trenton-Healdsburg Road, the sheriff's office said. Fontino reported water being inside her car, but the call disconnected. Dispatchers called back several times but were unable to get a response.
"At that point when the caller, when she called, there was water going over the hood of her car, so she was pretty deep," sheriff's office spokesperson Misty Wood said.
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Emergency personnel responded to the scene to search for the car and Fontino, combing the area until dark, but they were unsuccessful, the sheriff's office said.
Search teams returned to the area at about 6 a.m. Wednesday and found the car less than two hours later, according to the sheriff's office. A diver determined that the car was occupied, but Fontino was dead.
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The drowning happened in an area known to flood. Authorities said it's a tragic reminder of the dangers of driving through flooded roadways.
"Floodwaters on roads are very, very dangerous," Wood said. "Looks can be deceiving. Even a little bit of flowing water can push your car."
