UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A man was killed and a woman seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash that occurred along Highway 20 on Sunday night but wasn't discovered until Monday morning.
The collision, which took place west of Witter Springs Road, was first reported to the California Highway Patrol at 11 a.m. Monday via a 911 call from the surviving crash victim, the agency reported.
The 40-year-old male driver – a resident of Portland, Maine, whose name was not released – died, and his 43-year-old passenger, a woman from South Freeport, Maine, suffered major injuries, according to a report from CHP Officer Matthew Norton, who is leading the crash investigation.
Initial reports from the scene on Monday indicated that the crash occurred the previous night, which CHP Officer Kevin Domby confirmed to Lake County News later in the day.
Domby said the female crash victim extricated herself from the vehicle – a rented canary yellow 2012 Chevrolet Corvette – and called in the crash on her cell phone.
The woman remained on the line while the dispatcher listened for the sirens. When the sirens were close by, the dispatcher notified Northshore Fire that they were in the right area, Domby said.
At 11:15 a.m. emergency personnel located the Corvette down an embankment, Norton reported.
Based on the investigation so far, Norton said speed appears to be a factor in the collision's cause.
Norton said the Corvette was traveling westbound on Highway 20 when the driver failed to negotiate a right curve in the road and went off the road's south edge.
The Corvette hit an oak tree, ejecting the driver, who was not wearing his seat belt, Norton reported. The driver died at the scene.
The female passenger, who was wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash, sustained major injuries. Norton said she was transported by REACH air ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
Norton said the collision investigation is continuing.
John Jensen contributed to this report.
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