Fishermen Find Sisters in Woods After Mother Dies in Crash
Two small children were found by a pair of fishermen who happened to spot the wreckage of the crash where their mother lay dead.
Jessica Rath, 26, was traveling with her two daughters, aged 2 and 4, when she drove off the road and into a heavily wooded area striking a tree. Investigators revealed that Rath was killed in the crash, but that her two daughters were alive and stranded in the woods.
Reports indicate that Rath was traveling to visit her husband at a nearby fishing port near Naselle, Wash., and lost control of the vehicle, sending it careening off the road.
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It took nearly eight hours before two fishermen passing by noticed a hole in the brush along the side of the road. They felt a gut feeling that they should check out the situation, according to police.
When they found the wreckage they notice that two little girls were sitting next to the car.
"They were just staring at me. ... I said, 'Babies are you okay?' And the oldest one started crying, and said, 'We're cold,'" Scott Beautler, one of the fishermen, told KAIT.
The girls had endured the cold night in the woods but had managed to stay together and were in a poor state of health after experiencing a night in the elements.
"The 4-year-old was telling us the story, she had said that she actually got the 2-year-old out of the car. … So, as far as we know, the 4-year-old got the 2-year-old out of the car and had a blanket that she covered them both," Bert Haven, a volunteer with the Naselle Fire Department, explained.
She "was sick and needed to be out of there right away," Haven added.
Emergency responders praised the fishermen for trusting their instincts and taking a chance to investigate.
"'Well done' is all you can say to the person who took the time to find these baby girls at this crash. ... Most people would not have been so observant," State Trooper Russ Winger told KAIT.
