Authorities continue to search for two people believed to have been in a car that veered off the side of a mountain road in Ventura County and plunged 1,000 feet down a cliff at 2 a.m. Sunday.
The white Cadillac Escalade crashed on Deer Creek Road northwest of Malibu, about two miles from the junction with the Pacific Coast Highway, said Officer Ryan Ayala, a California Highway Patrol spokesman. A day and a half after the crash, one of the passengers reported the other two passengers missing.
Ayala said searches of the vehicle and the surrounding area on Monday and Tuesday yielded no results, and no one went to area hospitals with injuries from the vehicle crash. CHP was also unable to locate the missing resident at the address provided by the reporter, he said.
“It’s a really, really strange situation,” he said. “At this time, we need to ensure the safety of the other two people in the vehicle.”
The passenger told authorities he was able to extricate himself from the accident and was able to walk to a nearby road to pick up the vehicle, according to a CHP news release. Ayala said the man was sitting in the front passenger seat and had some scratches on his right arm and abrasions from his seatbelt, but added it was unclear why he waited nearly two days to report the missing passenger. Ta.
The Ventura County Fire Department assisted with the search at the scene and said in a statement Monday night that one of the passengers was found safely at his home.
Ayala said this is inaccurate information and that the CHP, which is leading the investigation, could not confirm that either of the two missing occupants were safe as of Wednesday afternoon.
Asked about the statement, the fire department referred questions to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The search was conducted with assistance from the county fire department, sheriff’s office, Ventura County Search and Rescue and Oxnard Fire Department, according to the CHP. Ayala said the search also included drones, helicopters, police dogs and foot search and rescue teams.
“We used every resource available at the time,” he said.
Ayala said the ground search is now complete and the CHP is continuing the investigation with assistance from law enforcement agencies in Washington state, where the car is registered.
Based on preliminary evidence, the accident appears to have occurred after the driver missed a bend in the road and missed a guardrail, causing the car to roll down the mountain multiple times before coming to rest on its roof. he said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact CHP Investigator Tucker at 805-662-2640.
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