Police release name of woman who drowned in car in NE El Paso canal

A 64-year-old woman drowned Monday morning when she became trapped in her car in a ditch.

El Paso Police identified her as Constance Manzanares of the 9100 block of Roanoke in Northeast El Paso.

ABC-7 spoke to Manzanares’ daughter, who said she worked at Providence Memorial Hospital and was on her way to work in the morning.

The daughter said her mom was driving on Railroad Drive, but it was too flooded, so she turned onto Vulcan Street.

Police say that Manzanares was driving a 2005 Toyota Corolla west on Vulcan Street, crossing Diana Street at 6:37 a.m. when a large amount of rainfall created flooding in the area.

The drainage canal on Diana Street was overflowing onto the street and the Corolla ended up in the canal, submerging the car.

Manzanares died at the scene.

Manzanares’ body was recovered from the vehicle and Special Traffic Investigators continue to investigate the rout which led Manzanares into the canal.

This is the 40 th traffic-related death of 2014.