COLUMBUS – Flooding triggered by record rainfall in Columbus might have contributed to the death of a woman whose car was found on its top in a culvert on the Southeast Side Tuesday.
MISSING WOMAN FOUND DECEASED:
5/19/20@2:07pm-CPD received a call of a vehicle upside down & off the roadway.
2009 Mercury Milan registered to 46yo Tonya Brown was located partially submerged under-water in a large drainage culvert underneath S. Hamilton Rd, south of Groves Rd. pic.twitter.com/JnzxpZQais
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) May 21, 2020
Columbus police officers and paramedics responding to a report of a vehicle that was upside down and off the roadway in a large drainage culvert underneath S. Hamilton Road, south of Groves Road, at approximately 2:07 p.m. pulled Tonya Brown, 46, of Columbus, from the vehicle, said Det. Dan Perez of the Columbus Police Accident Investigation Unit.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Brown’s 2009 Mercury Milan was located partially submerged in the culvert, which was approximately 15 feet deep and surrounded by dense vegetation, Perez said.
Brown’s family had reported her missing earlier in the day. They told police Brown had last called them shortly before 2:00 a.m. Monday.
Police say it is too early to “identify all contributing factors related to the cause of this fatality” Perez says preliminary information indicates there was high water in the area at the time when Brown apparently disappeared.
The investigation is ongoing.