FHP investigating after car drives into pond, one person is dead

A 55-year-old woman is dead after a vehicle went into a pond in Collier County, troopers say.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident in the area of Bellaire Bay Drive and Gervais Circle, and it’s a “fluid situation,” said FHP Lt. Greg Bueno.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol news release, the woman’s vehicle was traveling north on Bellaire Bay Drive and failed to negotiate a left-hand curve and traveled off the roadway, over the grass shoulder and into the pond.

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, a call came in at around 8:15 a.m. for a suspicious incident involving a vehicle in the area of Bellaire Bay Drive and Gervais Circle, near Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road.

Troopers were called to investigate at around 10:30 a.m., according to the FHP news release.

Neighbors in the area say the roadway is unsafe because drivers don’t see the curved road.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said Fred Lewis, who lives in the area.

Lewis has seen crashes on that stretch of the road before.

“Less than a month ago I was sitting on my lanai and had to, I didn’t have to, but I ran over there because I heard a crash,” Lewis said. “A gentleman had gone off the road in his Lexus, ruined his front end because he was, you know, he was just trying to see how fast he could take that S turn.”

Lasharon Matthews said she’d like to see brights lights put up in the area to avoid another tragedy like the one on Tuesday.

“It swerves,” Matthews said. “It’s a curve all the way till you get to the quarry entrance over here and it’s dangerous because when you’re going around if you’re not all the way over to the curb and someone else is coming in you could hit or if you swerve then you’re going to cross into that lake.”

The Florida Highway Patrol no longer releases the names of victims in vehicle crashes, citing Marsy’s Law. 

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