Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/794700
TheAssociatedPress HESPERIA A mother and one of her children were killed, a second child was rescued and a third was missing Friday after a car plunged into the California Aqueduct in the high des- ert city of Hesperia. Divers searched unsuc- cessfully for the missing toddler in darkness after the Thursday night crash and returned to the canal after sunrise. An older child was found clinging to a float in the waterway and was res- cued almost immediately after the accident, said Cindy Bachman, a spokes- woman for the San Ber- nardino County Sheriff's Department. More than 440 miles long, the California Aque- duct is an open canal that carries water from north- ern rivers to farms and cit- ies to the south. The Volkswagen Beetle struck a guardrail around 6:40 p.m. before plunging into the aqueduct, which crosses under the main street in the Mojave Des- ert city 65 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Paramedics pronounced Hesperia resident Chris- tina Eileen Estrada, 31, dead at the scene about an hour later, the coroner's office said. Her 3-year-old son Jeremiah Robert Ab- bott was taken to Desert Valley Hospital and pro- nounced dead later in the night. Relatives at the scene identified the missing child as Noah, 2, and the rescued boy as Elijah, 10, the Vic- tor Valley Daily Press re- ported. Elijah was doing well at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said his uncle, Steven Abbott. "We're just glad he's do- ing good and appears to be in good health," Abbott told the newspaper. HESPERIA Car plunges into California Aqueduct PHOTOSBYDAVIDPARDO—THEDAILYPRESS San Bernardino County Fire Department and the San Bernardino County Sheriff Department retrieve a vehicle that veered of eastbound Main Street and crashed into the California Aqueduct in Hesperia on Thursday. JAMES QUIGG — THE VICTOR VALLEY DAILY PRESS San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department dive team members continue a search for a missing child a er a car plunged into the California Aqueduct in the high desert city of Hesperia on Friday. San Bernardino County Fire Department and the San Bernardino County Sheriff Department investigate the scene a er retrieving a vehicle that veered of eastbound Main Street and crashed into the California Aqueduct in Hesperia on Thursday. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2017 6 A