El Dorado County woman dies from injuries sustained in Jeep accident

By Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee

An El Dorado Hills woman. injured more than a month ago in an off-road crash on the Rubicon Trail, has died, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s office.

Rachel Anne Gray, 21, died at 12:08am Sunday.

She had last been reported in critical condition after her vehicle rolled off the Rubicon Trail on July 28, causing a 2-acre forest fire and stranding as many as 300 other Jeeps participating in the Jeepers Jamboree.

The 1961 Jeep Willy she was driving careened off an embankment near Cadillac Hill, said Officer Dan Stark, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

The vehicle overturned several times, ejecting Gray and a 34-year-old male passenger from Pilot Hill before catching fire, Stark said.

Both Gray and the passenger were taken to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

While some of the Jeeps turned back, most — lacking enough fuel for the return trip –waited out the fire before completing the final three to four hours of the trip toward Lake Tahoe.