An 18-month-old girl is fighting for her life after she survived a car accident that killed her mother and left her trapped for hours in her seat in a cold Utah river.
A fisherman found the car partially submerged and upside down in a river in Spanish Fork early Saturday, the city's public safety department said in a statement.
When officers arrived, they found a 25-year-old woman dead inside and the child alive in the backseat.
The baby is in critical condition, according to the department. She had been stuck in the car for approximately 14 hours, KSL reported.
The department did not name the mother and child, but relatives told the Deseret News that the adult victim was Lynn Jennifer "Jenny" Groesbeck.
A fundraising page established to help the family with funeral costs identified the baby as her daughter, Lily.
Family members told officials that Groesbeck had been traveling from Salem to her home in Springville.
The vehicle apparently hit a cement barrier on a bridge and flew into the Spanish Fork River.
A witness told authorities that he had heard an unusual noise around the time of the crash and had checked it out, but found nothing.
Photos from the scene show the car landed in a position that made it difficult to see from the road.
Authorities said that Groesbeck had been coming home from her parents' house when she got into the accident, according to the Deseret News.
Her sister Jill Sanderson told the Deseret News Groesbeck had wanted to become a medical assistant and was devoted to her child.
"She was very compassionate and a very loving person and always willing to bend over backwards for her loved ones. Her baby was the love of her life. She was an amazing mother," Sanderson said.
Sanderson said that the family is hopeful that her niece will pull through.
"She is doing remarkably well considering the circumstance," she said. "The doctors have been hopeful so far."
The incident happened in the town of Springville. An earlier version of this story misstated that the town was called Springfield.