October 9, 2004

Teenager's death ruled drowning

       Seventeen-year-old Sarah L. Tempest drowned late Wednesday after her car swerved off the road and plunged into a pond near her home, an autopsy shows.  The White River Township girl was trapped underwater in her car for more than 30 minutes as scuba divers tried to save her.  She was pronounced dead later that night at Community Hospital South in Indianapolis.  An autopsy performed by the Marion County Coroner's Office shows she died as a result of being trapped underwater, not from any injuries suffered during the one-car crash.

         Investigators studying the accident during the past two days are no closer to knowing what caused the accident and did not have any new details on Friday.  Tempest was driving to her home on Greensview Drive when she swerved off the road and plunged into a pond around 11:30 p.m.  She was less than a half-mile from her house in the El Dorado subdivision near State Road 135. The teenager had been visiting her boyfriend after leaving work at 9:30 p.m.  Investigators believe her car crossed into the other lane and Tempest tried to overcorrect, sending her car crashing through the fence and plunging into the pond, according to Chief Deputy Doug Cox at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.  Accident investigator Rick Shipp from the sheriff’s office did not return multiple phone calls Thursday or Friday about the accident, but Cox reported there was no new information.  Investigators are not sure if an animal ran into the road or if Tempest fell asleep while driving, Cox said. Her driving speed has also not been determined, but the speed limit is 45 mph, he said.  There is no sign that alcohol or drugs were involved in the one-car crash, he said.  See original story HERE.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

   

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