An Indiana woman who was found alive in her car six days after crashing it into a ditch managed to survive by using her hoodie to drink water, her family and police say. 

Brieonna Cassell, 41, of Wheatfield, was rescued by a local “hero” Tuesday after he spotted her while doing drainage work in Brook, in the northwestern part of the state, according to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office. 

“She had fell asleep and veered off the road and went into a very big, deep ditch. It couldn’t be seen from the road,” Cassell’s father, Delmar Caldwell, was quoted by WLS as saying. 

“She was using her hoodie and wringing it to get a drink of water, trying to survive,” he reportedly added. “She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn’t see her from the road.” 

HERO POLICE OFFICER RESCUES UNCONSCIOUS DRIVER FROM BLAZING WRECKAGE 

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said Cassell “had been the subject of a missing person report for the last 6 days” prior to her discovery. 

“The passerby, Johnny Martinez, was operating equipment for Deyoung Drainage. When Martinez located the vehicle, he contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwall, who happens to be the Morocco Fire Chief,” police said. 

“Martinez and Vanderwall checked the vehicle and found Cassell to be the sole occupant. She was conscious and speaking,” it added. “Despite her injuries, Cassell had survived 6 days waiting to be rescued. She was flown to a Chicago Hospital.” 

TWO NYC WINDOW WASHERS GO FOR WILD RIDE 78 STORIES UP BEFORE BEING RESCUED BY FDNY 

Brieonna Cassell was airlifted to a local hospital following her discovery, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office said. (Newton County Sheriff’s Office )

Cassell’s family said she suffered compound fractures and injuries to her legs, according to Fox32 Chicago. 

Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said Cassell’s story of survival shows an “incredible testament to her will to live.” 

“We are grateful for all the well wishes sent her way,” Cothran said. 

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said “we owe immense gratitude to Johnny Martinez, who spotted the car in the ditch.” (Newton County Sheriff’s Office)

“In my book, Mr. Martinez is a hero, and we can never thank him enough for his keen eye and quick action,” he added. 

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) – It was a highly expensive rental that was used to commit theft in southeast Michigan.

That is what happened when a one-of-a-kind Rolls-Royce was rented and used in a string of thefts, and the owner was unaware.

The backstory:

Sam Zahar is the owner of Southfield’s Dream Luxury Car Rental, where this week, a customer rented a Rolls-Royce for $1,750 per day.

That was when the theft spree started as the suspect traversed Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb Counties, robbing banks along the way. The case is in the hands of the feds, so it’s unclear how many thefts the Rolls and the renter are tied to.

What they’re saying:

Zahar didn’t even know it was going on, as he only found out while scrolling through his phone, seeing a video on Metro Detroit news.

“This is my car,” he said. “I got a screenshot and I tried to, that’s my car. I was about probably four detectives by my house driving around thinking I stole the bank because the car is under my name.”

The driver led police on a chase, then bailed and ran on the city’s east side Wednesday night.

Police were able to recover the SUV with about $15,000 in damages, with the driver on the run.

Dig deeper:

This was, unfortunately, not the first time this had happened to Zahar, as a few months prior someone rented a car from him, then robbed a mail truck after some renters took a G-Wagon for a joyride.

Most recently, a $300,000 vehicle was likely stolen during transport from Miami to Detroit.

MILWAUKEE — New details continue to unfold from the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) about lead investigations at Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

“How are you guys just now finding out? You should have done this in the summertime before these kids came into the school,” MPS parent, Paradice Xiong said.

MHD said that during visual assessments this week, officials identified significant lead hazards at Starms Early Childhood Center, Fernwood Montessori School, and LaFollette School. As a result, all three schools will close starting Monday, March 17, to allow for necessary cleaning and remediation.

“We are very strained for resources,” Tyler Weber with MHD said.

TMJ4’s Megan Lee asked Weber if he considers this a crisis.

“This keeps elevating to that level for us, and we’re very nervous with the more schools we go into,” he said.

TMJ4 learned that the Environmental Protection Agency has joined the investigation efforts. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting as well.

“They bring another perspective,” Weber stated. “More hands-on deck to help us, and then just a different body with a different group of experience and different authority for us to share ideas and challenges on how to navigate this together.”

Weber said having experts from other entities will help in the investigations.

“Schools are very large facilities. We are a program that is trained on residential properties. So we’re going into this a bit wide opened,” Weber said.

MHD has identified seven schools within MPS that contain lead hazards and three students with elevated lead levels due to exposure at school.

“We’ve got buildings that are close to 100 years old, and we have thousands of students in these old schools, and it’s going to keep happening,” spouse of an MPS teacher, Paul Smith said.

His wife works at Fernwood Montessori School, one of the schools that temporarily closed for lead hazard remediation.

I’m worried, we have an aging infrastructure here in Milwaukee,” Paul Smith said.

TMJ4’s Ryan Jenkins

MHD and MPS are encouraging families to attend a free lead screening clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 15 at Bradley Tech High School.

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