Found Deceased TX - Emily Wade, 38, Ennis, Ellis County, 5 Jan 2019

[Tssiemer]

Scary. Imagine it at night

These pictures are shocking to me, especially the one with the man standing by the water. It is crazy to see how the road looks like it just goes straight down into the water.

 

[cluciano63]

Have they said when they will search for the car, or did they today?

 

[Gardener1850]

She may have been able to get out of her car if she drove it into floodwaters, but Toney Wade, the search and rescue director, said if her car went into the water quickly, the electric system would short out. In that case, she wouldn't be able to roll down her window. She might have gotten out of the window if the window was already rolled down. There has been no confirmation of whether it was raining while Emily was driving. If it was raining, it's much less likely Emily would have her window down. As soon as the car would enter the water, it would be almost impossible to open the door due to pressure from the water outside the car.

If it's true she had a flip phone, then her car might have had manual crank windows (Some people prefer that and it is cheaper). Or she might have had something in the glove box to break a window in case of emergency.
I keep one of these in my car:

Ready America Auto Emergency Hammer and Seat Belt Cutter-75403 - The Home Depot

 

[Gardener1850]

Have they said when they will search for the car, or did they today?

I'm not sure, but they might be waiting for the water to go down more. MOO.
Last tweet I saw said the river was 25 feet deep in some places.

 

[Choochoobella]

Attached are bridge still images from PommyMommy's link above:

Police On Body Found In Creek Bed Being Missing Ennis Mother Emily Wade: ‘We’re Confident It’s Her’

Video taken today or yesterday showing the current water level. Stunningly high water over the submerged bridge. There is no turbulence in the bridge location because the bridge is so far underwater. Not sure what the water height was on Jan. 5th other that is was high and over the road in this location, as I understand.

A car driving into the water would be immediately floating in the running water, downstream. No impact with anything. There also would be no sitting in 1-2 feet of water on the bridge IMO, where a door can be opened. A third image pin notes the location of the body 600 yards downstream, as was referenced in the video. The Ensign Road bridge is on the left side of the image, and is of course upstream of the noted location.

Could Emily swim competently?

Thank you for all the excellent information. Supporting your scenario that Emily's car may have entered the water and immediately started heading downstream is the fact that the search crew said there are no marks on anything in the area, not on a tree, not along the riverbanks, etc. That leaves the biggest mystery, which is how did Emily get out of the car? If the car entered the fast-flowing water, unless the window was opened, how did Emily get out? (Maybe Emily did have a window-breaking device as Gardener 1850 suggested.) We'll know more if/when the car is found and the window is examined.

 

[Concernedmamaof3]

If it's true she had a flip phone, then her car might have had manual crank windows (Some people prefer that and it is cheaper). Or she might have had something in the glove box to break a window in case of emergency.
I keep one of these in my car:

Ready America Auto Emergency Hammer and Seat Belt Cutter-75403 - The Home Depot

We keep one of those in our cars and I had thought of that, but then realized if Wade told her family about his suspicions they would probably mention mom having one in the car. MOO

 

[Linskid]

If it's true she had a flip phone, then her car might have had manual crank windows (Some people prefer that and it is cheaper). Or she might have had something in the glove box to break a window in case of emergency.
I keep one of these in my car:

Ready America Auto Emergency Hammer and Seat Belt Cutter-75403 - The Home Depot

I don’t keep one of those in my car, but I have always heard that you should kick or use whatever you have available to break the window if your car is going underwater. Maybe she did break out the window. I guess we won’t know until they find her car.

 

[swanniee11]

I don’t keep one of those in my car, but I have always heard that you should kick or use whatever you have available to break the window if your car is going underwater. Maybe she did break out the window. I guess we won’t know until they find her car.

From what I understand, the head rest of newer vehicles can be pulled out and the spokes of that headrest are to be used to break a window. That's all I got, just an FYI.
adding: thought about this for a sec. Please check your headrests to make sure they are able to be pulled out and there are metal spokes to use. I don't want anyone assuming all cars are made this way.

 

[vaporlass]

The autopsy will probably show the cause of death. If it was not drowning, the state and maybe FBI might quickly be entering the scene, and if the car is not located, that might be enough to trigger state or federal officials to enter the scene. IMO

Toney Wade, of Cajun Coast Search said on Nancy Grace podcast that others believe they have found car on sonar ... but Wade wasn’t convinced they found it. I’m sure it will be checked ASAP.
He is also very skeptical since Emily was not found in the vehicle, he has never found body and vehicle separated in all of his searches, he said - BUT as others have posted ... it is possible to get out of vehicle.

 

[asmi106082]

The force of the rushing water could have broken out her windows.

 

[vaporlass]

It saddens me that the majority of people in the area just want to declare an accident, and move on. They don't want to hear any talk of any other possibilities. They just want to accept it is a mistake and EW just drove off the road in to these big bad flood waters. I live here and there was no big flood waters that night. Yes the creek flows, but we did not have any bad or heavy rains that day or before. It was beautiful here in Texas. People keep posting pics of years past when it was actually flooding, and at its worst, but not that night. I've seen pics posted from back in 2013 and 2015.

I know the autopsy will tell us whether she had water in her lungs or not, and know we need to wait on that, but I agree 100% with Toney Wade, the captain of the search team. I have more faith in him than I do the police dept. because of all the inaccurate information that has been given by them. They say one thing one minute and change it up in another. At this point, I don't know if EW went straight to the co worker's apartment or house, or if she went home to her and her mother's apartment first or went to another friend's place. Now the mother was "babysitting". So why would EW go out or not even come home to her daughter, that she moved here for? wasn't she primarily living with her Daddy? visiting on the weekend? some reports say she was, others now are saying she lived with the grandmother and EW. Now everybody is all cleared and not under suspicion and we don't even know the COD. So why is it still such a big secret with police about who the Male Co Worker is? Why are they protecting him so much? bad background? known criminal? cooperated but refused at the same time? makes no sense.

So there was NO water over the road or are you saying there wasn’t enough to drag her vehicle downstream that night?
I’m still suspicious ... I’m trying to be open-minded BUT when I put myself in her shoes - it doesn’t make sense to me why she would NOT have backed up IF the water was that strong. Everything I’ve seen of the location seems to show she had several feet to realize it was flooded (if it was) and that it was dangerous.

 

[vaporlass]

Possibly she approached the bridge (and creek) slowly, thinking the water was not deep, and the engine failed as the car nosed down in creek water. She then exited the car to walk out for help and was swept away by the current.

I went to Google Earth and drove down the road - Ensign Road AKA NW County Road 1250.
In the pictures it is very clear that there is a turn around right before the bridge - on right side and it is elevated and would NOT be flooded. Red Gate.
You can also see that there are several feet - a car length- of protection as you go down the hill to cross the bridge. You have to go down hill to cross this bridge from either direction.
Wouldn’t EW have realized “I didn’t cross a bridge on my way to friends house!” backed up and turned around at that point? The turn around was only a few feet behind her.
If she did pull DOWN into the water that would have been there if it was flooding heavily - per other pictures posted - she should have been in deep water 2-3ft before she reached bridge but protected by the earthen sides - if car failed at this point - she should have still been in protected area so that she wasn’t swept downstream if she left vehicle. JMO and some facts. You can go to Google Earth to view. Photos won’t load for some reason.

 

[Bill Carson]

When I was in college, my roommate and I went driving around town one night after a bad flash flood had come through. And this town had an underpass that went under a railroad crossing, and it was filled with water, almost to the top of the railroad bridge over the road---the rain gutters were either clogged or couldn't keep up. The city had put construction barriers up to block the road, and they had those old-fashioned blinking orange lights on the top. Well we were out of the car, standing there looking at the all the water, when a car came up, veered around the barriers, drove straight into the water and started sinking. My roommate and I looked at each other and said, "What do we do now?" (This was years before cell phones.) We sprang into action---I jumped in my car and drove a few blocks over to the police station and he stayed to try to help the driver get out of the car. By the time I got back a few minutes later, my roommate and the driver were standing on the side of the road, waiting for police and a wrecker. I don't know what the driver was thinking--I guess just "why is this barrier here, it is night time and there's no construction and I don't feel like driving around." Clearly they didn't anticipate the underpass being filled with water.

But my point is that police barriers don't always work--even if there had been one. And then also, drivers get so used to seeing those flood gauge signs and low water crossing signs, and at some point you don't think of them as warning signs any more.

 

[vaporlass]

Unless there is some other Chambers Creek bridge on Ensign Road ... you can see the “turn around” spot and even where the grass is missing from people turning around there - right before the bridge on right side of road.

 

[Bill Carson]

That is such a strange road. I have to keep reminding myself that it is just a county road and not a state highway. It doesn't seem to have much in the way of road signs, road markings, etc. It was just a road designed for locals to get between their farms and homes and the farm-t0-market highway. But this is one of a few roads that cross that creek.

 

[Concernedmamaof3]

Unless there is some other Chambers Creek bridge on Ensign Road ... you can see the “turn around” spot and even where the grass is missing from people turning around there - right before the bridge on right side of road.

Would you be able to see that in pitch dark? I seriously don’t know. VERY curious what the autopsy results will be!

 

[cluciano63]

Jmo, Nancy Grace was not going to put someone on her show who said that this was likely accidental...that is not who she is. Gotta stir up controversy...jmo

 

[JC40]

So the co-worker has been cleared according to LE. I guess my point is. What harm would it do if he just came out and said on camera or a written statement "i didn't/did not have anything to do with Emily's death.

It's simple and it's easy, no harm done.

 

[zecats]

Jmo, Nancy Grace was not going to put someone on her show who said that this was likely accidental...that is not who she is. Gotta stir up controversy...jmo

This guy was the one who led the searches for Cajun Group, and he is experienced in searching, even for flood victims. Definitely not just some guy who would stir up controversy. He was pretty tight with the family and the community while the group was in town. His opinion is based, seemingly on his experience.

You're right that Nancy Grace would have someone on her show that expresses a controversial opinion though.

JMO

 

[zecats]

That is such a strange road. I have to keep reminding myself that it is just a county road and not a state highway. It doesn't seem to have much in the way of road signs, road markings, etc. It was just a road designed for locals to get between their farms and homes and the farm-t0-market highway. But this is one of a few roads that cross that creek.

It's still intriguing that she chose this way to go home after her pizza/movie evening. She most likely did not arrive that way, or in the daylight she would have seen the flooding.

I'm of the opinion (and this is not victim shaming in the slightest) that maybe they also had some beer and/ or wine with the pizza. They are adults after all and why would they not, and maybe her judgment was clouded a bit...or at least her focus to navigate the direction home and handle the situation when and if the car entered the flooded creek.

JMO. ..and what might make sense for an adult who navigated her way out there with no problem and had a daughter and mom waiting for her to return at a given time. Simple human mistakes can be costly at times, as in this case. Again MOO