This is a true story that happened on March 7, 2015.
Police, told by a fisherman about an overturned car in an icy Utah river, were stunned to discover an 18-month-old girl dangling in a car seat inside, unconscious but alive.
They found the baby in the back and a woman dead in the front seat after she flipped over the car. A firefighter jumped into the river and cut the car-seat straps, freeing the baby who was wearing only a flannel onesie and no hat or gloves.
Officers then formed a line in the river and handed the cold child from one person to the next until she was on the shoreline and in emergency workers' arms.
Two days later, Lily Groesbeck was recovering at a Primary Children's hospital, though authorities still don't know exactly how she survived hanging upside-down for nearly 14 hours in frigid temperatures with no food or water.
"It's heartbreaking. Was she crying most the night?" Spanish Fork Police Officer Tyler Beddoes said. "It's a miracle. ... She was needed for sure elsewhere."
Beddoes, one of the officers involved in the rescue, recounted the ordeal Monday.
Police believe the crash occurred late Friday when the child's mother, 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck, struck a concrete barrier on a bridge and careened into the river in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Groesbeck had visited her parents in nearby Salem and was about halfway back to her home in Springville when she crashed, Spanish Fork police Lt. Matt Johnson said.
Investigators don't know the cause, he said. There were no skid marks, and the midsize car had no signs of mechanical failure.
Police don't suspect drugs or alcohol but were awaiting toxicology results. Groesbeck might have been tired or distracted, Johnson said, adding that authorities weren't ruling anything out.
Even though the bridge gets plenty of traffic, no one saw the wreck because the concrete barrier obstructed the view below, Johnson said.
If a fisherman hadn't chosen that river Saturday morning, it could have been several more hours before the car was found, he said.
The overturned car was perched on the bank and rocks. As the girl dangled inside, icy water rushed just below her head through the broken windows. Temperatures were near-freezing.
"She must have been just out of the water enough to be getting oxygen," Beddoes said.
When the four officers got to the vehicle, they didn't know how long it had been there or who was inside.
After freeing the girl, responders rushed her to an ambulance and performed CPR, Beddoes said.
Lily Groesbeck was in stable condition and improving Monday, according to hospital officials. Beddoes said the girl was opening her eyes and doing well.
The mysterious and bizzare thing about this story is that rescuers heard a female voice...
Four police officers rushing to an overturned car in an icy Utah river say they all heard the same thing: a mysterious female voice calling out “Help,” from inside the vehicle.
But the driver of the car was dead and her 18-month-old daughter, while still alive, couldn’t have been the speaker.
It was a mystery that continues to haunt the officers – and may never be explained.
Officer Jared Warner of the Spanish Fork Police Department was one of the first who came to the rescue of tiny Lily Groesback, who was strapped in a seat in the back of her mother’s car, which was precariously hanging upside down in 40-degree water.
“We’ve gotten together and just talk about it and all four of us can swear that we heard somebody inside the car saying, ‘Help."
Who's voice was saying "Help?" Please feel free to share your thoughts as everyone's point of view is valid.
Community Forum
Topic: Baby Lily (Read 263 times)
October 24, 2011, 02:15:39 pm
