Girl who survived for 10 days in crashed car shows resilience

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- A 6-year-old girl who survived 10 days in a crashed car, nourished only by dry noodles and Gatorade, was recovering from dehydration as her family marveled at her resilience and mourned the death of her mother.
Ruby Bustamante was sitting up in bed, smiling, asking for ice cream and watching TV at Riverside Regional Medical Center, Dr. Webster Wong told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
"She has sustained some very minor, non-life-threatening injuries," he said.
Ruby's great-grandfather Bill Cooney said she didn't appear to remember much about the crash that killed her 26-year-old mother, Norma Bustamante.
"She's a strong little girl, strong, real strong," Juan Morin, the girl's uncle, said as he fought back tears.
What happened
Relatives said they last saw Ruby before she left her Indio home with her mother on April 4 to visit her mother's boyfriend. They reported both missing the next day, but authorities could find no trace of them until state department of transportation workers spotted their crashed Ford Taurus at the bottom of a ravine Tuesday.
The Riverside County coroner's office said Wednesday that Bustamante likely died within minutes of the crash of multiple blunt force trauma. She was ejected from the car.