Woman not injured, but vehicle submerged after she slides into Clinch River

A Clinton woman escaped injury when her car slid off snowy, icy Melton Lake Drive into the Clinch River on Saturday morning, but her 2002 Nissan Pathfinder remains underwater, possibly to be pulled out of the lake later, authorities said.

Debby Hillman, 55, of Clinton was southbound on Melton Lake Drive just after 11 a.m. Saturday when she lost control of her vehicle as she tried to slow down in a curve, shifting down into second gear, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. Her Pathfinder slid across the northbound lane of Melton Lake Drive and into the river north of Emory Valley Road and Melton Lake Park.

The police report said the area where Hillman lost control was covered in snow and ice. About an inch of snow had fallen in Oak Ridge that morning, and driving conditions were treacherous on many roads as they had become slippery and ice-covered.

Brush and grass has been pushed down and bark stripped from bushes in the area where Hillman’s vehicle appears to have gone into the river near Melton Lake Greenway. Yellow police tape is wrapped around a tree close to where her vehicle remains submerged.