Woman dies in accident after car skids off road, sinks in local pond

Icy roads might have caused a woman's car to slide off the road and sink to the bottom of a pond Sunday morning, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Faron Lake, reading from the police report. \nThe woman in her thirties, who could not be named because her next-of-kin might have not been notified, yet was believed to have lost control on Pete Ellis Drive at the entrance to Woodbridge Apartments near 10th Street at 11:39 a.m. Sunday, Lake said. \nAfter over-correcting, the four door compact vehicle ran off the road into a retention pond at the entrance to the apartment complex, and quickly sunk to the bottom of the pond, he said. Lake said he guessed the pond was 10 to 12 feet deep. \nThe woman was unable to get out of the vehicle as several people attempted to rescue her by jumping into the pond as the car was going down, Lake said. Though some people made it to the car they were unable to open the doors due to the temperature of the pond as well as a thin sheet of ice partially covering the pond, Lake said.\nIU Police Department Sgt. Chad Bennett said IUPD Officer David Winburn and Sgt. Andy Stephenson attempted to help get the car out by diving in the water. Stephenson went under the water to try and get to the car and attach a winch to the car to pull it out of the lake, Bennett said. Police had attached a harness to Stephenson to get him out of the water which was so cold he was unable to move, Bennett said.\n"I think those guys went certainly above and beyond," Bennett said. "It's a lot more than a lot of people would have done."\nThe Monroe County Dive Team was also called to the scene and used a wrecker to pull the car out of the pond, Lake said. The woman was taken to Bloomington Hospital where she was pronounced dead, he said.\nThe accident is still under investigation and an autopsy will determine the official cause of death, Lake said. \nNo one else was in the car or hurt in the accident, he said. The residence of the woman is also unknown.