A woman who went for a walk in Orange County and never returned home was found dead after a DUI crash, police say.
According to the Anaheim Police Department, officers responded to the area of Wagner Avenue and Rio Vista Street on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. and discovered the scene of a single-vehicle crash.
Based on their initial investigation, it is believed that the driver of the vehicle, a white Mercedes sedan, was traveling eastbound on Wagner at a high rate of speed and “failed to negotiate” a left turn onto Rio Vista, APD said.
“The driver failed to negotiate a 90-degree left turn onto Rio Vista Street and went off the road, through a greenbelt and into a riverbed,” authorities stated in a press release issued early Wednesday morning. “When officers arrived, they located two subjects who were believed to be inside the vehicle during the collision…both occupants were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.”
While they were on the scene investigating, a man contacted the officers and told them his wife had gone out for a walk in the area and had not returned.
Near the corner of Wagner and Rio Vista is the entrance to Anaheim Coves Park, and below it is the 2.5-mile Anaheim Coves Trail.
“Officers searched the greenbelt with the assistance of an Anaheim Police Air Support helicopter,” police said. “Tragically, they located a female who was deceased in the dense brush near the traffic collision.”
“Based on the circumstances, it is believed that she was struck by the vehicle that went off the road and that she was the wife of the man who reported her missing on her walk,” APD continued.
Her identity was not immediately released.
The driver of the Mercedes was identified as 33-year-old Santa Ana resident Raymundo Rangel. He was arrested and charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence.
The area of Wagner Street and Rio Vista Avenue was closed for several hours due to the investigation and so that Anaheim Fire and Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue Team could recover the victim’s body.
Traffic investigators are asking anyone with information on the crash to contact the Anaheim Police Department by calling 714-765-1900.
