An 18-month old baby has been found alive in an overturned car in a Utah river after a rollover crash that killed the child’s mother, who was found dead in the vehicle. Authorities think the crash had happened about 14 hours before. The toddler was locked in a car seat in the back passenger seat. Her 25-year-old mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, was dead in the driver’s seat. The baby was not submerged. The car was found in the Spanish Fork River near Provo.

Family members told police that the woman and child had left Salem, Utah, to return to their home in Springville, a trip of about nine miles. Many unanswered questions surround the incident, which police are investigating as a traffic accident. Spanish Fork Police Lt. Matt Johnson says that there are no skid marks or evidence at the scene to indicate why the vehicle left the roadway, although it apparently struck a cement barrier on the bridge before landing in the river. A nearby resident told authorities that he heard a loud crash at about 10:30 p.m. Friday and went outside, but saw nothing unusual.

The car could not be seen from the roadway. A man who went to the river Saturday morning to fish discovered the car at about 12:25 p.m. When rescuers arrived they tipped the car onto its side, at which time they found the baby and Groesbeck’s body. The water in the river was so cold that four firefighters and three police officers had to be treated for hypothermia at a nearby hospital.

The baby has been flown to a Salt Lake City hospital in critical condition. The car is being examined to try and determine if some malfunction caused the accident.