Woman rescued after driving her car into Hayden Lake

A woman was rescued Monday night after driving her car into Hayden Lake, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said.

Police received reports of a vehicle in Hayden Lake at the Honeysuckle Boat Launch at about 7:45 p.m., according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies responded along with the Northern Lakes Fire District and members of the sheriff’s office dive rescue team. Dive team members and fire personnel were able to pull a woman, identified as April D. Heath, 39, from the vehicle.

Heath was taken to Kootenai Health with life-threatening injuries.

First responders searched the area for other people but no one was located, the sheriff’s office said. It’s unknown why the Heath drove into the water, the sheriff’s office said, but alcohol was possibly a factor.

Numerous cars have gone into the lake at the boat launch, resulting in injuries and deaths. A 64-year-old woman was rescued at the boat launch in January. Eleven motorists died in vehicles that drove into the water at the launch from 1995 though January 2018, according to a Spokesman-Review article.