[1]Audi SUV submerged west of bridge. / Image derived from Lewis County map library
Updated at 11:57 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Mossyrock woman and the driver of the car in which she was a passenger are dead after the vehicle drove into Mayfield Lake last night.
Troopers called to the scene at 8:25 p.m. report the sport utility vehicle had been traveling eastbound on U.S. Highway 12 when it left the road to the right and ended up fully submerged in the water.
The cause of the wreck is under investigation, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has notified the next-of-kin for Lorraine J. Sprague, 60, and 44-year-old Eric T. Sprague of Olympia.
The 2013 AUDI Q7 sport utility vehicle was to be recovered during daylight hours today, according to the state patrol.
It happened near milepost 82, about four miles west of Mossyrock.
Lewis County Fire District 8 Chief Duran McDaniel said it appeared the car left the highway well west of the west end of the bridge, passing on the outside of the start of a guardrail and sheering off several alder trees before landing as far as 50 feet from the shoreline.
“This was witnessed by boaters,” McDaniel said.
More than a dozen personnel from his district and Lewis County Fire District 3 responded, he said.
Members of the sheriff’s office swift water rescue team commandeered some boats and retrieved the pair, with life-saving efforts continuing at Mayfield Lake Park, according to the chief.
McDaniel said the last similar incident he could recall on the bridge was at the east end, back in 1977 when a vehicle drove through the guard rail.
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CORRECTION: This news item has been updated to reflect the correct age of the passenger.