Car Goes Into River, Four Possibly Dead

Rescuers in Amador County are using rafts to get to a car that´s stuck in the Mokelumne River. A woman and three children are believed trapped inside, and are possibly dead. Authorities can´t tell if the four are still in the car, which is stuck in fast moving water. The children are aged one, two and three.

The Amador County Sheriff´s Department says the car went off the roadway at Electra Road near Highway 49 yesterday evening, and was swept about a mile down the river.

Two men escaped. One of those men, 20-year-old Joshua Julin, has been arrested for vehicular manslaughter. Authorities say the Mokelumne Hill man was driving the car too fast, and swerved to avoid a truck when he rolled down a hill into the water. Julin´s brother was reportedly the other person who escaped.

Several dams are on the Mokelumne River. Pacific Gas and Electric says it´s been able to cut the water flow through the dams by 25% to aid in the rescue.