Woman drowns in DeKalb County, Alabama, after getting stuck, attempting to drive home in storm

Contributed photo / Jeff and MaKayla Ross
Contributed photo / Jeff and MaKayla Ross

A 23-year-old woman in DeKalb County, Alabama, died earlier this month after she was trapped in her car during a thunderstorm and drowned.

On Saturday, June 19, around 10 p.m., officers with the Fort Payne Police Department were in the area of a Mapco gas station and a Dunham's Sporting Goods helping sleeping truck drivers move their trucks because of heavy rain and flooding. While waking up the truck drivers, officers saw a white passenger car in the water against a bridge behind the gas station.

Officers tried to get the driver, MaKayla Danielle Ross, out of her car "but the vehicle quickly submerged and was swept under the bridge," according to a statement from Assistant Chief Lee Traylor.

After Ross' car went under the bridge, first responders and law enforcement looked for her throughout the night with the Swift Water Rescue Teams. Ross' body was found the next morning at about 8:30 a.m. by Fort Payne Fire Department and Fischer Swift Water Rescue Teams.

After the floodwaters receded, her vehicle was found a day later at 8 a.m. by Fort Payne Public Works.

When the storm started, Ross was at her place of employment, Santa Fe Cattle Company restaurant, and the staff was told to leave at about 10 p.m. Traylor told the Times Free Press the department "contacted her employer to see when she left to help establish a timeline because no one saw her enter the water."

Hanna Shadrick, Ross' sister-in-law, said she had an aura to her that was unlike anyone else's.

"You felt the love and joy she had before you ever saw her," Shadrick said. "We're all broken, it sucks and it hurts and we just want her back. MaKayla was such a huge impact on us all, and she still is. We feel her every day, and we know she's still cheering for us. We just wish she was here in person instead."

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.

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