Porter County Sheriff’s Police said a Porter Township woman died after her vehicle ran off the road and entered a ditch in Morgan Township early Sunday morning.

Police said Annette Pondo, 51, was found dead inside her vehicle after the car was recovered from a creek located on CR 200S near CR 525E in Morgan Township Sunday. Police said it is believed that the crash occurred sometime after 1 a.m., after Pondo had a phone conversation with her husband while on her way home from a family member’s home in the Wanatah area.

Police said evidence suggested that Pondo was westbound on 300S when her 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix left the north side of the road, continued through a ditch and over an embankment before it overturned in a creek. Police said most of the passenger side of the vehicle was submerged in the water. The road conditions at the time were icy, police said.

After police were dispatched to a report of an abandoned vehicle, a tow truck arrived at the scene at about 8:30 a.m. Pondo was found in the rear seat passenger area of the vehicle, police said.

The vehicle was taken to the Morgan Township Volunteer Fire Department, where Porter County Coroner Victoria Deppe removed Pondo  from her vehicle. An autopsy  performed on Monday determined that the cause of death was drowning, Deppe said.

Posted 1/27/2009