Lake crash victim dies
Divers watch as subemerged vehicle is pulled from Fernan Lake Sunday. The driver, Pepper Richardson, 40, of Coeur d’Alene was transported to Kootenai Health and was in critical condition in the intensive care unit early Sunday evening. (NATHAN DRECHSEL/Courtesy photos)
A vehicle went into Fernan Lake Sunday along this section of E. Fernan Lake Road.
A woman whose vehicle went off the road and into 12 feet of water Sunday at Fernan Lake has died.
Pepper Richardson, 40, died early Monday, reports the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. She was admitted to Kootenai Health’s intensive care unit Sunday evening after being pulled from the submerged vehicle.
Richardson was the driver and only occupant of the car.
Personnel from the Sheriff’s Office, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and Kootenai County EMS responded around 3:22 p.m. to the 4800 block of E. Fernan Lake Road, after receiving multiple 911 calls that a car crashed into the lake, just east of Coeur d’Alene.
Nathan Drechsel, of Post Falls, was traveling near the crash site and was flagged down by onlookers right after the crash.
“...we parked and ran to the edge where onlookers from various fishing boats and craft were pointing at ripples in the water and bubbles breaking the surface,” Drechsel told The Press.
He said Mike Steiner, of Coeur d’Alene, went into the water before the sheriff’s divers arrived and attempted to retrieve Richardson. Drechsel said Steiner found a window open but could not find anyone in the front seat before the depth and cold water forced him out of the lake.
Divers from the Sheriff’s Office arrived and pulled Richardson from the submerged vehicle about 27 minutes after the first 911 call came in. Richardson was transported to Kootenai Health after EMS personnel established basic vital signs.
Drechsel said divers found Richardson in the back seat of the vehicle.
Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said, in a news release, that speed and alcohol appear to be a factor in the crash. An investigation is ongoing.