Oct 10, 2008 9:43 am US/Eastern
2 Days After Crash, Md. Woman Found Alive In Car
BALTIMORE
A Baltimore woman was trapped for two days in her Jeep after crashing down a ravine. She sustained a head injury and broken bones, but is expected to recover.
After watching a Ravens game with friends last week, 22-year-old Rose Rice lost control of her car on the way home. She sailed over the embankment, hit a tree and became trapped in her overturned Jeep 40 feet below. Her parents got a call when she did not show up for work the next day.
"Something wasn't right. I just knew. It's so unlike my daughter; she's always in touch. None of her friends had heard from her," said her mother, Trish Demarest.
The Baltimore family enlisted friends and coworkers to begin a searching the roads around Delta, Pa., on the Maryland border.
"Everyone kinda went into shock. Everyone in her family started driving the route, 'cause there's only one way to get to her house and people started walking it when driving wasn't enough," said co-worker Nick Griffith.
Two days after the crash, a tow company owner -- who's also an EMT – spotted the crashed Jeep in the ravine.
"Grabbed my gloves, went down the hill and ran to the Jeep. Found it on its side. She was trapped in it and we ripped the roof off of it," said George Seilinger, who owns George's Custom Tow.
When Seilinger found Rice, she was talking but was confused about how long she'd been trapped. According to police, it had been 42 hours.
"She thought she hydroplaned in the rain and at that point, I realized it hadn't rained in two days. I had no idea they had been looking for her. I thought I came upon a wreck that just happened," Seilinger said.
Rice was flown to a trauma center and underwent brain surgery for a burst artery. Her mother says Rice may take two months to recover, but she isn't expected to have any permanent brain damage. Rice also broke her hand trying to break the windshield to get out of the Jeep.
A donation fund has been set up for Rice:
Rose's Rescue Fund
c/o Provident Bank
4806 Roland Ave.
Baltimore, Maryland 21210
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
