Young girls MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPE from sinking car as father dies after accidentally driving into lake
OTTAWA COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Two young sisters, aged 8 and 10, miraculously survived after their father, Jon Paul Dowler, 52, died when he accidentally drove their car into Lake Macatawa, Michigan on Sunday, January 22. Following their escape from the sinking car through its rear, the girls spent hours shivering in their wet coats and bare feet before finally going on to ask for help.
Daily Mail reports that they found someone who gave them a lending hand at Park Township, after knocking on many doors - a lot of the properties were vacant, owing to the winter. The girls had apparently held onto each other for warmth at the front porch of Kevin McLeod and his wife Maribeth. The crash has now been ruled as an accident, but the cirumstances leading to the crash continue to remain under investigation, according to Ottawa County Sheriff Lt Eric Westveer. He also said that he believes the father was disoriented at the time of the incident. The Dowler’s car is thought to have gone into the lake at around 2 am, at a road end near Tiara Yachts.
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The girls had been asleep when the incident had occurred. “They then stated they kind of fell asleep and they were woke up to the sound of the crash and then hitting the water,” Westveer had said. “They said that the back hatched opened…What we don’t know yet is how that back hatch opened because there’s not a lever on it like a normal side door. But they stated the back hatch opened and they were able to crawl out of that and then they swam to shore at that point.”
It has been reported that the temperature was close to 30 degrees out at the time of the crash. “They did tell us that they had seen a TV show where they learned that huddling together, cuddling together, creates body heat that they can share,” Westveer shared. “So they found an enclosed porch and that’s what they did.”
The couple who found them had given them warm clothes and called 911 as well. McLeod, who found the girls on his porch had come to them when he heard a knock on his door at 9 am in the morning, according to WoodTV. “I came downstairs and I opened the door and I just saw a little red face from a little girl, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s really weird. That’s very strange,'…So then I opened the door and she’s standing here with one shoe on, barefoot, and she just starts going like a mile a minute.”
“I’m glad we were here to help them,” MacLeod said. “I’m glad that the right people were able to come and help them. To my understanding, they’re home with mom. They don’t have any serious, lasting injuries. I’m glad that they’re doing well.” He also hoped the girls find the strength to get past the tragedy. “I hope that they get the help that they need to process this…” he added. “Losing a parent’s tough at any age.”
Both girls were taken to the hospital for treatment and have since been discharged.
