1 dead after car overturns into Otter Creek in Oregon

Workers remove a car from Otter Creek in Oregon, today. The Chevrolet Impala went through a guard rail on Otter Creek Road near Millard Avenue, into the creek below. The female driver of the vehicle died.

Oregon police confirmed today that a woman is dead after her car plunged into the south end of Otter Creek in the city of Oregon.

The woman, identified as 20-year-old Bianca Bepler, a student at Eastern Michigan University, was likely lost and got off the highway unintentionally, said Steve Kahle, a Lucas County Coroner's Office Investigator

He said Ms. Bepler has family in Columbus and Dayton and she was probably on her way to visit when she got lost in Toledo. He believes she was trying to find her way back to I-75 when the crash occurred.

Ms. Bepler apparently lost control of her black, Chevy Impala as she was traveling south on Millard Avenue and failed to make the turn on to Otter Creek Road, said Sgt. Chris Bliss of the Oregon Police department.

Police do not know what time the incident happened but the car was discovered by a person biking along Otter Creek Road about 10 a.m. The license plate indicated that the driver may not be from the local community said Sergeant Bliss and it is possible the woman was unfamiliar with the area.

He said skid marks from the tires indicated the driver did not apply the brakes until she was in the intersection and by then it was too late. The car crashed through the guardrail and flew at least 50 feet in the air before flipping over and plunging into the icy water.

Authorities pulled the submerged vehicle from the water about 12:30 p.m.

An autopsy will be performed by the Lucas County Coroner Monday.