Mysterious call for help heard before finding Utah toddler
Four rescuers heard woman’s voice, but mother was found dead
A toddler who was rescued from a Utah river over the weekend after a car crash claimed her mother's life was released from a Salt Lake City hospital Wednesday.
Eighteen-month-old Lily Groesbeck was released from Primary Children's Hospital at about 4 p.m., spokeswoman Bonnie Midget said. Other than a few bruises, the girl is in great condition — playing, talking and reciting nursery rhymes, said father Deven Trafny, who made his first public statement about the accident and his daughter's survival.
"She should be gone. She shouldn't be here," Trafny, 34, told reporters. "I'm blessed. I'm counting all my blessings right now."
Rescuers found the baby strapped into her car seat, hanging upside down as icy water flowed through the car.
A fisherman spotted the car Saturday, the day after it hit a cement barrier on a bridge and careened into the river in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Police said that even though the road over the bridge gets plenty of traffic, no one saw the wreck because the cement barrier obstructed the view. Police were investigating what caused the crash but say the girl's mother, Lynn Groesbeck, 25, of Springville, could have been distracted or drowsy.
KSTU reported Wednesday that investigators found a small bag of marijuana in the car, along with a pill bottle containing the pain medication Tramadol and an unopened syringe. Johnson said they won't know if drugs contributed to the crash until toxicology reports come back in several weeks.
Lynn Groesbeck was engaged to Trafny, a drywall worker who was working in Montana when he learned about the crash, the Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City reported.
"She was the love of my life, and I'm going to miss her a lot," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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