East Bay Mother's Body Remains Submerged In The Sacramento River
ISLETON (KPIX 5) -- An East Bay mother was killed in a car crash and days later, officials still can't get to her body.
Now her family is outraged.
The California Highway Patrol says the incident happened Sunday night when 48-year-old Nichelle Johnson was driving from Bay Point to Sacramento to visit her sister. They found her car off state Highway 160 near Tyler Island Road.
Investigators believe she lost control of her car and drove into the Sacramento River in Isleton.
But officials aren't able to retrieve her body until at least Saturday. They say the storms have further delayed the recovery process.
Some witnesses tried to pull her out but couldn't. Divers found the car Sunday night and attached orange buoys to mark the submerged car.
But the CHP says they didn't have enough volunteer divers to safely retrieve the car.
The family and many people are outraged by the response.
The victim's daughter, Mikaela Hampton, said, "This doesn't make sense. This happened Sunday night, my mom should have been out of the water Monday morning."
Haydee Perry lives half a block from crash site and said, "I'm hurt in my heart. If it was my family member, I'd climb down there myself and get her."
The CHP says a dive team will try and recover the body Saturday morning, but if the river and weather conditions change, they may have to push it back.
