They just found Jessica Birge's body in her vehicle in the Guadalupe River at the Common Street Bridge. I wonder what the heck happened.

What a horrible story.

I too wonder how she wound up where she did.

My guess is she peeled off the road from having one too many while on the river. Pure speculation on my part.

Flash flood victim?

Common Street bridge? How did it take them that long to find it? How many cars do you think pass over that bridge in a day? 1000? 2000? Seems like someone would have seen something there in the past couple of months.

Sad story, but I suppose it is good for everyone involved that the ordeal is done.





Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. - James 4:10 (NIV)

Did they really find a vehicle at the Common St. Bridge that has been there all this time? That is out of control. Not only are people there everyday but kayakers are there all the time.

Missing woman found in river

Web Posted: 09/18/2007 05:05 PM CDT

Roger Croteau a
Express-News

NEW BRAUNFELS — Searchers found the body of Jessica Birge, still in her Suzuki Grand Vitara, in the Guadalupe River on Tuesday afternoon.

The vehicle was spotted in the river by police in a helicopter at Cypress Bend Park, and divers checked it out and found Birge's body inside.

Birge had been missing since Aug. 11. She had spent the day tubing the nearby Comal River with friends and was last seen driving from the Gruene Outpost River Lodge, just about a mile from where her body was found.

Police have not ruled out foul play, but said it appears to have been an accident. They don't know where the vehicle went into the water or why.

“It raises as many questions as it answers,” said Comal Sheriff's Department Lt. Mark Reynolds. “We are probably always going to wonder how, why and where she got into the water.”

Divers were searching a nearby stretch of river, but the vehicle was found a few hundred yards downstream from the end of the search area.

Reynolds said Birge was not in her seatbelt and it appeared she had tried to get out the passenger-side door, but the water pushed the door closed. Her body was inside the vehicle and her hair was caught in the closed door, he said.

Birge, 25, was a waitress and University of Texas-San Antonio student, who hoped to become a nurse.

The river had not been thoroughly searched because the river flow was very high, about 5,000-cubic feet per second, since she disappeared.

With Canyon Lake returning to its normal level, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to mostly close the floodgates at the dam this week and the river flow had dropped to about 300-cfs by Tuesday morning, allowing boats and divers better access to the river channel and banks for a more thorough search.

Reynolds said Birge's family was notified, but they did not go to the scene and did not immediately answer a telephone message.

I walk that stretch of the river a lot, and I just dont know where she could have gone in at. I cant believe they said in the story that her hair was caught in the door- that is chilling.

IT was down the river from Common. In a deeper area. I just can't figure out where she went off the road. She was found near a park do you think she drove down the park shore too close? Just a thought.

The way the river had been flowing, there is no telling, i don't know but I would assume that the flow was strong enough to move the car. It is pretty hard to get your car close enough to the river in that area to accidently drive in it. Had she gone off the bridge there would be some damage. The whole thing is weird, like where was she going in the first place? They had said that she just got in her car and left.

i have a feeling there is a lot more to the story that we dont know about. it all just seems a little wierd to me

It seems very weird to me too. They said she was on her way home to Garden Ridge, so I dont know why she would even be near Cypress Bend Park.