The four police officers who plucked a toddler out of an overturned car in a Utah river say they could swear they heard someone calling for help.
When they flipped the car on its side, they discovered only the 18-month-old and her mother, who was dead.
"I remember hearing a voice that didn't sound like a child just say, 'Help me,'" one of the rescuers, Officer Jared Warner, told NBC affiliate KSL. "To me, it was plain as day," he added.
Another rescuer, Officer Bryan Dewitt, said he also distinctly recalled hearing a voice saying, “Help me, help me.”
Police believe that the girl, Lily Groesbeck, was strapped upside-down in her car seat for 14 hours in the Spanish Fork River, about 50 miles outside Salt Lake City. The mother, Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, 25, was killed when her car plunged into the river Friday night, according to a statement from the Spanish Fork Police Department.
Three of the officers and some of the firefighters who responded were treated for hypothermia after the rescue, according to police, but all four police officers who were at the scene said they didn't feel the cold when they jumped into the water to flip the car.
Officer Paul Taultomadakis said that once the group realized there was a child in the vehicle, they "didn't really think about anything except trying to get her out."
"Once I got ahold of her, I could tell that she still had some life," Taultomadakis said. From there, Lily was passed from one officer to the next until she reached Warner's arms, who performed CPR and got her into an ambulance, the officers told the station.
The little girl is in critical condition, according to the Spanish Fork Police Department. The department said the accident is under investigation.
IN-DEPTH
- Baby Found Alive, Mother Dead 13 Hours After Utah Car Crash
- Lily Groesbeck, Baby Who Survived Deadly Utah Crash, Is Improving