One dead, one injured in crash on Highway 29 in Lake County

A female passenger died Thursday morning in a single-car crash on state Highway 29 north of Bottle Rock Road near Kelseyville.

The car’s driver, Margarita Garnica-Sanchez, 40, suffered major injuries and was taken by helicopter to an unknown hospital outside Lake County, according to a collision report from the CHP.

The passenger, Rosa Covarrubias, 59, of Kelseyville, died at the crash scene.

The crash occurred about 5:25 a.m. The two women, who were related through family, were traveling north on the highway in a 2010 Honda Civic when Garnica-Sanchez swerved into the southbound lane to avoid a dead animal in the car’s path, according to CHP Sgt. Nenad Gorenec.

The driver turned the Honda back to the right, causing the car to go off the road, roll over and crash down an embankment. The Honda came to rest upright in a drainage gully.

The crash came before sunrise on Thursday, so visibility may have been a factor, according to the CHP. Investigators do not suspect drugs or alcohol were involved.