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Utah baby improving after 14 hours in upside-down car in icy river

A toddler is recovering in a Utah hospital after spending the night hanging upside down inside a crashed vehicle
Toddler rescued after 14 hours in car that plunged into icy river 02:46

SPANISH FORK, Utah -- Police say a baby who spent some 14 hours upside down in a car seat in freezing temperatures after her mother crashed their car into a Utah river is improving and expected to live.

Spanish Fork police Lt. Matt Johnson said Monday that the family has told him 18-month-old Lily Groesbeck is doing better. She was discovered midday Saturday by a fisherman in Spanish Fork after police believe her mother struck a cement barrier on a bridge and careened into the river.

Her mother, 25-year-old Lynn Groesbeck of Springville, was found dead in the car.

Johnson said police don't know what caused the accident late Friday night. He says there were no skid marks or signs of mechanical failures in the car. No one saw the wreck.

Officials told CBS affiliate KUTV-TV in Salt Lake City that Groesbeck left her parent's home in Salem Friday evening around 10 p.m.

"It is unknown why the car left the roadway," Lt. Cory Slaymaker with the Spanish Fork Police Department said. "Our investigation shows the driver's side tire went up the cement barrier on the south end of the bridge - launching this woman and her baby into the freezing water."

Officials told CBS affiliate KUTV-TV the water is 10 feet deep in places.

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