The Accident at the Bridge

Jennifer Lynn Groebeck, 25 years old, was traveling to her in home in Springfield Utah after visiting her parents in Salem when her car struck the cement barrier on the south side of the bridge in Spanish Fork, about 50 miles south of Salt Lake City and went into the river. Groesbeck crashed around 10.30pm on March 6.

According to “Spanish Fork police Lt. Matt Johnson ... Investigators don't know what caused the crash, he said. There were no skid marks or signs of mechanical failures in the car.”

(https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3201723&itype=CMSID)

A medical examiner determined the 25-year-old woman died from blunt force injuries to her head, but noted a "significant condition" of "mixed drug intoxication."

After the crash, police officers interviewed Groesbeck's father, who told them that his daughter had been driving from his home in Salem to her Springville home that night, according to a police report.

"[The father] told me that Jennifer had taken some Klonopin and he didn't feel like she should be driving," an officer wrote. "He told me that he told Jennifer he wanted to drive her home, but she refused."

Police believe that Groesbeck was heading north on Main Street and was approaching the Arrowhead Trail at about 10:30 p.m. when she left the roadway and struck a retaining wall. Her car overturned and ended up in river on the north embankment, according to police reports.

Jennifer’s baby Lily was still alive and strapped in the backseat. The car after careening down the embankment had ended upside down underneath the bridge with the windows broken. Jennifer was killed upon impact.

“Nobody knows exactly how the infant survived hanging upside down for nearly 14 hours in her car seat with no food or water. As she dangled, icy water rushed just below her head through broken car windows as the vehicle sat perched on the bank and rocks. The temperatures were near freezing throughout the night and through the morning."