A Utah woman was high on a combination of drugs when she crashed into an icy river in an accident that left her toddler daughter dangling above the frigid water in a car seat for 14 hours, newly released police documents show.
Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck's father was worried about her driving after she took the prescription anti-anxiety drug Klonopin on March 6, but she refused to let him drive her, according to the report released by Spanish Fork police.
So Chad Groesbeck made sure his granddaughter Lily Groesbeck was buckled securely into the car seat and watched his daughter drive away from his home in Salem, about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.
The toddler was found in the wreckage the next day, still belted into the seat, after fishermen spotted the car in the river.
The documents were released Wednesday and first reported by Salt Lake City TV station Fox 13. They mark an official closure to the case for investigators, police Lt. Matt Johnson said.
The report revealed the results of toxicology tests showing the presence of multiple drugs in Lynn Groesbeck's system in addition to Clonazepam, the active ingredient in Klonopin. The others included morphine, marijuana and two pain medications, codeine and hydromorphone.
Investigators had suspected drugs might have been a factor in the crash after finding a bag of marijuana in the car, along with a bottle of 16 pills of the prescription pain medication Tramadol.
It happened when Lynn Groesbeck hit a cement barrier on a bridge and careened into the river in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. The wreck wasn't spotted for hours because the barrier blocked the view.
After the fishermen called 911, rescuers jumped into the river, flipped over the car and discovered 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck dead of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the report.
In the back seat was her blond baby girl, wearing only a flannel onesie and no hat or gloves. The girl appeared to be lifeless when they reached her, but the crews revived her and got her to a hospital.
Rescuers called Lily Groesbeck's survival a miracle. She was aided by her car seat, which kept her suspended just above the frigid water and spared her from a potentially fatal case of hypothermia.
She was treated for bruises and released from the hospital after a few days.
