Indiana woman found alive after 6 days trapped in her car following crash

By Karina Tsui, Mar 12: A 41-year-old woman was found alive on Tuesday after being trapped in her car for six days following a crash in northwest Indiana, officials said.

Brieonna Cassell disappeared last Wednesday after leaving her mother’s home to visit a friend near the towns of Wheatfield and DeMotte, Indiana, according to CNN affiliate WLS.

The mother of three reportedly fell asleep behind the wheel before veering off the road into a deep ditch in the small town of Brook, around 80 miles south of Chicago, WLS reported.

Cassell’s car had crashed off the road, out of view from passing traffic, and no one could hear her calls for help, family and the Newton County sheriff’s office said.

Cassell was also unable to move her legs after being injured in the crash, her parents said in a news conference Tuesday.

Her phone also lost power, so to survive, Cassell used her sweater to retrieve water from a nearby creek –– wringing it into the water and drinking from it, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told reporters.

“She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help,” Caldwell told WLS.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that Cassell was found by Johnny Martinez, a passerby who was operating drainage equipment in the area.

Martinez contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also a fire chief in the nearby town of Morocco.

The two later found Cassell alone in her car, “conscious and speaking,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

“Despite her injuries, Cassell had survived 6 days waiting to be rescued,” the statement read.

Cassell was rescued and flown to a Chicago hospital, the sheriff’s office said. She was placed in the ICU and will undergo surgery on Wednesday after sustaining severe injuries to her legs, ribs and wrist, WLS reported.

“I could feel something was wrong in my gut and I started panicking,” Cassell’s mother, Kim Brown, told reporters Tuesday.

“I just can’t wait to hug her and kiss her, which I probably can’t do,” Brown said.

“It’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Caldwell told reporters.