A rural Mitchell woman is dead after a series of crashes ended with a vehicle in the pond at Cabela's.
It happened around three this afternoon, at Cabela's, a sporting goods store just off the I-90 Mitchell exit.
Witnesses tell police 61-year-old Jane Virginia Strong was driving eastbound on Spruce Street between Cabela's and Menard's.
Strong's car swerved north, hitting the entrance sign at the Holiday Inn Express. It then continued through a parking lot where it hit south-facing van, and jumped a curb, headed right toward the busy sporting goods store. That is when the vehicle took a wide turn back to the east and ended up in Cabela's pond.
When divers located the vehicle more than two hours later, it was in the center of the pond, under about 18 feet of water.
Investigator Joel Reinesch with the Mitchell Police Department tells us the first-responding officer at the scene, stripped out of his duty gear and jumped in, trying to save strong, but he was unable to get to her.
Divers with the Mitchell department of public safety also tried to get strong out, but were unsuccessful.
When the vehicle was removed from the pond around 5:45 Thursday evening, the jaws of life were still needed to remove Strong's body from the car.
The cause of death is not known at this time, but an autopsy is planned for tomorrow.
KSFY will bring updates as soon as they are available.
