LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 5-year-old girl, found in a ravine, survived on dry noodles and Gatorade while remaining near her dead mother after a car crash more than a week ago, relatives and authorities said.
The girl, apparently uninjured, was identified as Ruby Bustamante, the daughter of Norma Bustamante, 26, of Indio, Calif., said Jane Evans, nursing supervisor at Riverside Regional Medical Center. They were reported missing April 4.
California Department of Transportation workers repairing a road barrier Tuesday morning found the girl, her mother’s body and a wrecked Ford Taurus 150 feet down a ravine off a freeway between Moreno Valley and the Banning Pass, said Chris Blondon, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
The car had crashed about 10 days ago, and the girl was hungry and thirsty but unhurt, Mr. Blondon said.
Relatives gathered at the hospital late yesterday, where Miss Evans said Ruby was in stable condition.
Bill Cooney, the girl’s great-grandfather, told local TV networks that Ruby told him she survived on ramen noodles and Gatorade.
Ruby also said her mother was alive for “a couple days” after the crash, he said.
Mr. Cooney criticized the highway patrol and other authorities for not searching for Mrs. Bustamante and her daughter when they were first reported missing April 4.
The woman’s body was severely decomposed and the coroner’s office did not expect to identify it for several days, said Riverside County Deputy Coroner Rebecca Mendoza.
Banning is about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
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