2 Thought Dead in Vehicle Plunge off Mountain Road

Two people were believed killed when their vehicle plunged off a steep, dirt road near Santiago Peak, but high winds and the rugged terrain of the Cleveland National Forest kept rescue crews from getting close enough to inspect the crash site by nightfall, authorities said Sunday.

It was not immediately known who was in the car, which was believed to have gone over the edge of the Maple Springs truck trail sometime before 4 a.m. Sunday, Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Khune said.

A county Fire Department dispatcher said paramedics had confirmed that there were two fatalities at the crash site, about three-fourths of a mile from Santiago Peak on the north side of the mountain. But as night fell, efforts to remove the bodies from the wreckage were hampered by strong winds and mountainous terrain.

Khune said Sunday night that the deputy coroner could not get to the site because the Sheriff’s Department helicopter was unable to land. “The winds are too strong and there’s no place to land up there where this thing is at. We could land on the peak, but in the dark, the coroner can’t do his job anyway.”

Khune said efforts to reach the wreckage would resume at daybreak.