Area law enforcement officials suspended a search Thursday evening for a woman they presume drowned Wednesday night after apparently deliberately driving into Boca Reservoir.
"We've had three dive teams out there since last night, and we've got to get them in for some rest," Nevada County Undersheriff Rich Kimball said Thursday.
The incident began about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday when a Union Pacific official reported a freight train had to make an emergency stop because a vehicle was on the tracks near the Boca crossing.
"At the last second, the car pulled out, so our deputy didn't know if he had someone trying to commit suicide or playing chicken with the train," Kimball said.
As the deputy pursued the vehicle, it suddenly turned off the road down a steep embankment, he said.
"She floored it for about two miles downhill through boulders and thick brush, and there's that heavy sand at the bottom," he said.
As her car – a dark-colored Chevrolet Cobalt – entered the lake, the deputy, hiking down the hill, "saw her get out and swim to the middle of the lake," Kimball said.
– Barbara Barte Osborn
