CLAREMONT : Missing Woman Found Unconscious in Car Crash

A 19-year-old Upland woman who had been missing for about 30 hours was in critical condition Tuesday after her car ran off the road and into a Claremont flood control channel.

Melissa Jan Pillow, who had just completed her freshman year at Cal Poly Pomona, was found unconscious in her 1993 Toyota Tercel. She was being treated at County-USC Medical Center, where she was on a respirator Tuesday. Doctors will test her for head injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Upland police reported Pillow missing Sunday afternoon after she failed to return from a party at her brother’s fraternity house in Pomona, Upland Police Detective Mike McCarthy said.

Pillow apparently ran her car off an embankment of a dead-end road at Garey Avenue about 4 a.m. Sunday, Claremont Police Officer Larry Horowitz said.

Her car apparently went airborne and struck the concrete side of the flood control channel, then dropped 40 feet, Horowitz said.

Residents near the Live Oak Canyon Flood Control Channel near College Way and Garey Avenue heard a loud crash about 4 a.m. Several residents came out of their houses to look around, but could not see anything. The police station received no calls, Horowitz said. About 6:50 p.m. Monday, a couple taking a stroll spotted Pillow’s car and called police.