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A vehicle drove off of Niles Canyon Road and into Alameda Creek
this morning.
The California Highway Patrol received a call at 5:05 a.m. about a vehicle that was in Alameda Creek.
Crews responded and are on the scene. One person is being transported to a hospital, the dispatcher said.
The accident follows efforts to locate a woman thought to have died when her car ran off Niles Canyon Road last Saturday and ended up submerged in Alameda Creek east of Fremont.
Officials with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and the Fremont Fire Department had hoped to find 18-year-old Tracy resident Jayda Jenkins still in her car.
Once crews pulled the car from the creek, however, they were unable to locate Jenkins’ body, according to sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly.
“I can’t tell you how disappointed we are right now,” Kelly said. “We were hopeful, we were optimistic we could do the recovery today, but when we pulled the car from the creek, she was not inside.”
Investigators believe that Jenkins’ car went off the road and into the creek at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
She was driving a silver Honda Accord west on Niles Canyon Road when it apparently crossed into the eastbound lane and collided with a white Honda Accord, according to the California Highway Patrol.
After striking the white car, Jenkins’ Honda careened into the creek. It came to rest upside down and was completely submerged by the time
officers arrived.
No injuries were reported to passengers of the other car.
The recovery effort was hampered early on by the quickly moving waters of Alameda Creek, which was unusually swollen because of several recent storms.
On Monday morning, crews found what turned out to be Jenkins’ car, but because of the dangerous water conditions they were unable to attempt the recovery until today.
Her family gathered near the crash site today and her mother, Denielle Jenkins, asked reporters at a news conference to respect the family’s privacy.
She also asked reporters to refrain from trying to interview classmates at William Jessup University in Rocklin, where Jayda Jenkins studied psychology, according to her Facebook page.
“We are still dealing with the fact that we don’t have our daughter, and our sister and our child home,” Denielle Jenkins said.
William Jessup University officials issued a statement today, saying the community “is remaining vigilant in prayer regarding Jayda Jenkins. In the coming days, Jessup’s efforts will be Christ-like in support, love and comforting care for Jayda’s family, and the campus community with professional Christian counselors available on campus for students in addition to faculty and staff.”
The search efforts will now shift focus to areas around the crash site and downstream from where the car plunged into the creek.
Alex Kekauoha, Kiley Russell, Bay City News
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Alex Kekauoha, Kiley Russell, Bay City News
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