Girl, 5, survives for ten days after crash

A five-year-old girl found in a Californian ravine survived on dry noodles while remaining near her dead mother following a car crash 10 days ago.

The girl, apparently uninjured, was identified as Ruby Bustamante, the daughter of Norma Bustamante, 26, said Jane Evans, nursing supervisor at Riverside Regional Medical Centre.

They were reported missing on April 4. Norma was apparently alive for some time after the crash.

California Department of Transportation workers repairing a road barrier yesterday found the girl, her mother’s body and a wrecked Ford Taurus 50 yards down a ravine off the 60 Freeway about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, said Chris Blondon, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The car had crashed about 10 days ago, and the girl was hungry and thirsty but unhurt, Blondon said in a statement.

Relatives gathered at the hospital late last night where Evans said Ruby was in stable condition.

Bill Cooney, the girl’s great-grandfather, told local TV networks that Ruby told him she survived on ramen noodles and Gatorade. Ruby also said her mother was alive for “a couple days” after the crash, he said.

Cooney criticised police for not searching for Bustamante and her daughter when they were first reported missing on April 4.

The woman’s body was badly decomposed, and the coroner’s office did not expect to identify it for several days, said Riverside County Deputy Coroner Rebecca Mendoza.