The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call just afer 9 a.m., Friday, apparently from a passing motorist, reporting an upside-down car mostly submerged in the river near the U.S. 52 bridge.

Sheriff’s deputies rushed to the scene, and after an initial investigation, called in the department’s water rescue team. Divers soon discovered the driver’s body in the car. Emergency crews then worked to pull the car onto the riverbank.

Tippecanoe County Emergency Management and the Indiana DNR assisted in removing the gray sedan from the river. A team from the county coroner’s office immediately moved in to recover the body and identify the woman, followed by the county’s fatality accident investigation team.

Police reports have not yet determined the time of the accident, nor whether wet weather conditions played a factor in the accident. Initial evidence at the scene, including tire tracks in the high grass along the river bank, indicates Smidler was traveling northbound on North River Road, drifted left-of-center, over-corrected, and ran off of the right-hand side of the road, hitting the steep riverbank and tumbling into the water.

A local family member reports Smidler had just graduated from Purdue last week with a double major.

An obituary notice appears on the PulaskiPost.com obituary section.