Authorities investigate Grafton woman’s death

GRAFTON, N.D. - Police here are waiting for autopsy results for clues to why a 51-year-old woman drove into the Park River Saturday.
Rescue teams found the body of Carolina Mendoza inside her vehicle in the river late Saturday.
According to a statement from the department, Mendoza, a Grafton resident, drove over the bank of the river near Western Avenue and West Second Street near Leistikow Memorial Park. Sgt. Alex Droske, an investigator with Grafton Police, said the two streets make a right angle there, and it appeared Mendoza drove forward into the river rather than make the turn.
She was driving a Dodge Venture sedan and was alone in the car, he said.
Police were contacted by Mendoza’s family at around 4:40 p.m. Saturday after she had been missing most of the day.
It is unclear when she drove in the river.
Search teams found tire tracks near the river bank, and a member of Mendoza’s family found the bumper of her car on the bank, Droske said.
The Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office’s Water Operations Team assisted in the search, along with an unmanned aircraft from the Sheriff’s Office.
“It was a very big operation, and it got very big very quickly,” Droske said.
The Water Operations Team used two sonar-equipped boats to find the submerged car, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office. Divers attached a recovery cable to the car and pulled it from the river with Mendoza’s body inside just after 11 p.m.
Mendoza’s body was sent to the University of North Dakota for an autopsy. Droske said investigators want to find out if a medical condition could have led to the crash.
The case was still under investigation Sunday afternoon. The North Dakota Highway Patrol is also conducting a crash reconstruction, Droske said.
The Walsh County Sheriff’s Office, the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Grafton Fire Department, Valley Ambulance and Rescue Service and Walsh County Emergency Management also assisted in the operation, according to the Grafton police statement.