Car slides into canal; woman, 2 kids killed

VERO BEACH - A woman and two children died Wednesday when their car slid off an unpaved road and landed upside down in a canal, state troopers said.

"She was likely going a little too fast on the gravel road," said Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Gary Armstrong. "The road is real washboarded, and she ended up going into the canal."

The relationship of the woman and the children was not immediately clear, officials said.

Troopers identified her as Lidia Lopez, 26, and the children as Moises Pasaran, 5, and Eliana Pasaran, 8 months.

The tires, sticking out of the water, were dry when rescuers arrived, indicating the accident may have happened well before a passing motorist spotted the vehicle.

"It's quite possible that it was there for a long time," Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Dietz said.

Firefighters used scuba gear to retrieve the bodies from inside the Pontiac Firebird and to search for any other possible victims the murky canal water.

Area resident Terri Hardee said she often rides her bicycle past the site of the crash in the mornings and didn't notice the vehicle early Wednesday.

"I always look for wheels in the water," she said. "The way people speed up and down this street is really dangerous. They just fly down here."

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