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Car crashes into retention pond on city's SE side; woman pulled from water identified

Posted at 10:56 AM, Mar 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-08 23:38:50-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- The 88-year-old woman who was pulled from the bottom of a retention pond after crashing her vehicle into the water Thursday morning has died. 

The crash happened just after 10 a.m. at the intersection of Thompson Road and Five Points Road. The vehicle lost control in a nearby roundabout, hit a telephone pole and continued into the pond. 

Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith said the woman driving was slumped over the wheel when she entered the roundabout traveling westbound on Thompson Road. An eyewitness called for help and stayed on scene to pinpoint the location where the vehicle went into the water for rescue crews.

The initial call came from an eyewitness at 10:04 a.m. First responders got on scene at 10:07 a.m., even still seeing the car partially above water. The first dive team arrived on scene at 10:26 a.m. The vehicle was located in the water at 10:37 a.m.

Divers went in and out of the water between 10:37 a.m. and 11:06 a.m. The woman was brought to the pond bank at 11:06 a.m. and transported to the hospital in a cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at 11:44 a.m. 

Reith said there was "no visibility" in the pond and when divers located the vehicle, it took longer to get the woman out because their tools to break the windows weren't working. 

The woman was identified by family members as Doris J. Corn, 88. Corn was in the water for almost an hour. 

Four divers assisted in the woman's recovery. The last two divers in from Greenwood were the ones who were able to pull her out. 

Reith said the pond is about 30-40 feet deep.