Woman pulled from Santa Ana River on New Year’s Day was mother of two
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A woman whose body was pulled from the Santa Ana River on New Year’s Day and identified as a transient was the mother of two young daughters, according to a GoFundMe account reportedly started by relatives.
The incident occurred just before noon Thursday, when at least one bystander called 911 to report seeing an individual in the river, near Warner Avenue and Harbor Boulevard in Santa Ana, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran said Friday.
About 60 firefighters from OCFA, Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue and the Fountain Valley Fire Department responded to the call, locating a person more than 1.5 miles downstream of the initial sighting in Fountain Valley, near Ellis Avenue.
Doran confirmed a swift water rescue team accessed the water by dropping a crew member with a rescue basket from an aerial ladder suspended above the river. An unresponsive woman was retrieved from the water and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Doran.
An Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Friday coroner’s officials had identified the decedent as 39-year-old Alejandra Ramirez Torres but were not able to establish a city or address of residence.
A second sheriff’s spokesperson, Sgt. Gerard McCann, confirmed Monday Ramirez Torres was unhoused at the time of the incident, despite having two children with whom she’d kept some level of contact prior to her death.
He said coroner’s officials are currently investigating the incident but have not yet determined the exact cause of the woman’s death, pending completion of an autopsy and toxicology report.
A GoFundMe account reportedly created by a relative seeking to cover funeral expenses and support family members of Torres stated the woman was a mother of two daughters, aged 16 and 11, according to KTLA. The beneficiary of the funds, which as of Monday morning totaled more than $8,200, was listed as Victor Torres.
“This sudden and heartbreaking loss has deeply affected our family, and we are doing everything we can to support Alejandra’s girls as they face an uncertain future without their mother,” states the page’s creator, Michelle Flores Norman.
Norman did not immediately respond to a request for comment issued through the crowdfunding site, leaving it unclear where Ramirez Torres may have been residing at time of her death.
