TAMPA (FOX 13) -
A woman who was lost apparently drove onto a boat ramp and into the Hillsborough River Wednesday night, Tampa police said.
Migdalia Mendoza, 51, was pulled from the water and taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police.
Mendoza was on the phone with a friend trying to get directions when she told the friend she was in the water, police said.
"Apparently she just drove write down the boat ramp; it was raining pretty hard," Spokeswoman Andrea Davis said. "That could have had something to do with it."
Someone across the river heard the vehicle go in the water and called 911.
The first officers got there in minutes, and dove in the water to try to find her, but were not successful, according to a TPD media release.
Members of the dive team arrived, pulled her from the car and took her to St. Joseph's hospital.
Police say it was dark and raining heavily when Mendoza drove off the ramp.
