Girl in wreck survives 10 days on noodles, Gatorade
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-15 11:43

A five-year-old girl who was found with her dead mother after a car crash that may have happened as many as 10 days ago was "doing extraordinarily well" at a hospital Wednesday, the girl's doctor said.

Ruby Bustamante survived by drinking Gatorade and eating dried noodles found in the car, according to family members.

Ruby Bustamante was found near her dead mother in a ravine Tuesday near Banning, California.

"She's smiling, watching TV, and is happy to be surrounded by her family again," said Dr Webster Wong of Riverside Medical Center.

Wong said Ruby had some bumps, bruises and scratches, but nothing more serious.

"When she came to us, she was in miraculous shape," Wong said.

Ruby was found Tuesday by highway workers near Banning, California, about 70 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and about 40 miles from where she lived in Indio.

Police believe Norma Bustamante, 26, drove off a highway and plunged 400 feet over the guardrail to her death, according to Capt. Bob Clark, commander of the California Highway Patrol's station in Banning.

The car came to rest under a large tree, which mostly obscured it from view.

The California Highway Patrol received a call early April 4 from a motorist who said a car on State Route 60 may have gone over the side of the road. Authorities searched the area at the time but found nothing.

Bustamante's family reported the mother and daughter missing April 5.

California transportation workers repairing the guardrail on Freeway 60 "noticed movement approximately 150 feet down a steep embankment," according to a highway patrol report.

The workers found Ruby, who "appeared to be uninjured but was hungry and thirsty," near the site of the crash, the report said.

An autopsy report from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said Bustamante likely died within minutes of the accident. The cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force trauma, the report said.

Results of toxicology tests were pending.

Rose Lopez, Ruby's aunt, told reporters Wednesday the Indio Police Department "dismissed" the family's worries.

Rescuers prepare to remove the body of the girl's mother Tuesday.

"They said she [Norma] probably just wanted to be alone," Lopez said, adding the family was told there weren't enough officers to conduct a search and that the family would have to do it.

She said she believes if the search had begun immediately, Norma Bustamante might still be alive.

"This is an outrage. Someone needs to be held accountable for this. There is no excuse for this young mother to be left out there to die, and a child have to go through such a horrific ordeal," Lopez said.

Indio Police Cmdr Mark Miller called the whole ordeal a "tragedy." He said he understood the family's reaction, but he felt the department did everything it could.

"We took it seriously and followed up local leads," Miller said.

He said descriptions of the car and mother and daughter were sent to all local law enforcement agencies and were entered into the state's missing person database. Officers also checked local hospitals and morgues.

"We feel we honestly did everything in our power," Miller said.

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