Accident victim's family sues government dispatch!

AZTEC, New Mexico - May 17, 2008 - A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the San Juan Communications Authority this week accusing dispatchers of failing to provide GPS information for emergency responders to locate a crash scene and save a 20-year-old woman who repeatedly called 911 for help.

Jessica Eldred was found dead in a car crashed into a tree off U.S. 64 near Blanco around 3 a.m. May 13, 2006, nearly four hours after the crash was first reported.

Four others also were found dead in the wreck.

Eldred called 911 seven times, explaining the car had crashed near the bridge just past Trujillo's Country Store and Lounge, at 2268 U.S. 64, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Eldred's parents Terry and Cindi. The 25-page lawsuit seeks up to $750,000 in damages for the wrongful death.

Dispatchers told medics and sheriff's deputies that no GPS location was available, although the 911 computer system logged that information from the cell phone call, and never reported Eldred described her location as "near the bridge," the lawsuit claims.

"Had the defendants ... admitted to Jessica that they were completely unable to locate her, based upon their tragic ignorance of their own GPS tracking equipment and failure to communicate to emergency units that the crashed vehicle was close to the bridge, Jessica would have undoubtedly turned to other efforts to save her own life," the civil complaint states.