RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Macomb County sheriff's deputy was sent to investigate a report of a wrecked vehicle at an intersection but failed to spot it partially submerged in a pond, leaving a woman to spend 15 more hours trapped inside, authorities say.
After a report from a passing trucker, state troopers and firefighters found Jennifer Bova about 9:55 a.m. April 27 inside the GMC Suburban in Richmond Township, about 35 miles northeast of Detroit. She apparently crashed the night of April 25.
The 21-year-old Armada Township woman remained at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, moving in and out of consciousness and breathing with a ventilator, the Detroit Free Press said Tuesday. It said she has brain injuries and broken bones in her face, pelvis and arm.
At 6:52 p.m. on April 26, a bicyclist called 911 and reported seeing the wrecked vehicle near the intersection, the sheriff's department said.
"The deputies go out there and they try to locate what they can," said Capt. Tony Wickersham. "We have one deputy up in that area and he got his information from our dispatcher."
An investigation of the circumstances is being considered, Wickersham said.
"I can't stand the thought of her being down there for two days when she could have been out of there that night," said her father, Joe Bova.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox