Calif. Woman on Phone Drives Off Boat Ramp to Death

August 18, 2010

Authorities say a Northern California driver who was talking on her cell phone to get directions went off a boat ramp to her death.

The California Highway Patrol is awaiting video footage they hope will shed light on how 47-year-old Kathleen Gomez Collier ended up in the Sacramento River.

Investigators say Gomez Collier told her daughter the car was filling up with water and to phone her insurance company just before the call was cut off.

Divers recovered her body from the vehicle about 175 feet downstream from where the Ford Expedition hit the water.

Officer Michael Bradley says Gomez Collier stopped at Vieira’s Resort off Highway 160 in Isleton to ask for directions just before midnight. The Antioch woman ended up driving off the resort’s boat ramp.