Search Fails to Locate Body of Woman
A search Friday failed to turn up the body of a woman who drowned with her sister when they drove through the grounds of a Long Beach power plant into the San Gabriel River.
Grace Cormier, 88, of Fountain Valley and Gladys Ommondson, 83, of Huntington Beach had gone shopping Thursday afternoon.
About 5:30 p.m., they drove onto the Haynes Power Plant premises at 2nd Street and Studebaker Road on the west side of the river.
A security guard pursued the car to tell the women they weren’t allowed on the property. As the guard was doing so, the car went over an embankment into the river, which was then 12 feet deep.
When the car and Cormier’s body were recovered Thursday night, Long Beach Fire Department divers thought only one woman was involved.
Cormier’s son, however, told investigators that his mother didn’t drive, said Long Beach Police Officer Greg Schirmer. Officials found Ommondson’s purse in the vehicle and discovered that the car was registered to her. So divers again set to work Thursday night and searched all day Friday for her body, without success.
Schirmer said it was unclear why the car entered the power plant’s grounds.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
