The Car On The Ledge

It was rush hour on the morning of June 1 in the West Texas city of San Angelo.

- Andy Simmons

Heather Santellano, 36, was driving her white 2012 Mazda on Houston Harte Frontage Road with her nine-year-old daughter and ten-year old son in the back. Suddenly, a red pickup truck cut them off. Santellano turned the wheel hard to the right, sending the Mazda skidding off the road and down an embankment that ended in a dropoff after about 50 feet. If the car didn’t stop, it would go airborne and plunge onto “There was a cloud of dust, and I thought the road some she had gone over,” one rescuer said. 20 feet below. Then a bit of luck: As the car raced toward the edge, its undercarria