Witness reports car ‘speeding’ off cliff, rescuers hunt for clues, Cal Fire says
Authorities in Northern California are hunting for clues on Monday after a witness reported a car going over an oceanside cliff.
One witness reported the incident at Grey Whale Cove, a state beach between Pacifica and Montara on the Pacific Ocean coast along the peninsula below San Francisco, according to Cal Fire officials in San Mateo County. The beach is just off Highway 1.
Cal Fire said “multiple agencies are searching” for the car.
“Tire tracks were found,” Cal Fire officials said on Twitter, sharing photos of the search. “Car parts found in water, unclear if the parts connected to this incident.”
Photos released by Cal Fire show search crews on foot, boat, jet ski and in helicopter.
According to NBC Bay Area, the crash “was reported around 11:15 a.m. Monday in the Grey Whale Cove State Beach area, just south of Devil’s Slide, Cal Fire officials said.”
In an Instagram post, the San Mateo County Fire Department said the witness “reported a dark vehicle speeding” over the edge of the cliff around 11 a.m.
“CAL FIRE responded, ready to use rope system rescue, if needed,” the fire officials wrote.
Crews spent the afternoon “looking for any survivors or other evidence in the 30 to 40-foot-deep waters near the cliff,” the San Jose Mercury News reported.
“You have to keep in mind that this happens periodically, so they do find car debris when they go out searching for something like this,” said Cecile Juliette, a spokesperson for the San Mateo County Fire Department, according to the Mercury News. “Once a car goes over the cliff into the water, they might never find anything even if it did happen. We can’t say anything conclusively at this point.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Witness reports car ‘speeding’ off cliff, rescuers hunt for clues, Cal Fire says."
