Putnam County deputies respond to three crashes in the last two months where vehicles have been driven into ponds. The most recent claimed the life of a teenage girl.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, 17 year old Brianna Coon of Rockford died on Saturday evening after losing control of her car near Ottoville and driving into a pond.
Coon was able to dial 911. It was picked up by dispatchers in Van Wert-- which was the closest 911 center to the scene of the crash.
Officials narrowed down her location to a five mile radius, but it took two hours before a trooper found a hubcap near a pond. The Putnam County dive team found the submerged car with Coon still inside. Putnam County Sheriff Jim Beutler says in cold water temperatures, a person has about a minute to escape.
"Unless you practice this you won't know how to respond if it does happen. Practice is very important along with a plan to escape immediately. This is something you can do on dry land to orient yourself to the 'what ifs.' How do I get out of my seat belt? How do I manually unlock my doors? Do I have crank down windows, or do I have electric windows? How do I put my windows down in case they don't work?" said Beutler.
Coon's call to 911 was just a few seconds long. From the call, officers were able to determine a general search area. Beutler says if the call had been longer, they could have pinpointed an exact location.
"Here is a case where a 911 call did work and did help us locate the vehicle. Had she not made the call, we probably still wouldn't know where she was at," said Beutler.
Beutler, added that doors won't swing open until a vehicle is completely consumed by water because of differences in pressure.
Troopers from the Defiance, Van Wert, and Lima posts of the patrol along with deputies from Putnam and Van Wert Counties all assisted in the search.
The people involved in the other recent Putnam County pond crashes survived. However, a Mercer County man also died after driving into a pond in January.
