GUSTINE — A suspected DUI crash along the Delta‑Mendota Canal just outside of Gustine sent two women to the hospital and left a third missing early Wednesday after a dune‑buggy style vehicle plunged into the water, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The Merced Communications Center received the call at about 12:06 a.m. Jan. 28 reporting that the off‑road vehicle had entered the canal near Gravel Pit Road, south of State Route 140. CHP officers from the Los Banos Area Office responded and found the vehicle submerged and learned that one female passenger had not been located.

Investigators said the driver, Elixandro Naranjo Miranda, 21, had been operating the dune buggy along the canal bank west of the waterway with three female passengers. CHP said Miranda drove into the canal at an estimated 10 mph, citing darkness and heavy dust that limited visibility.

Miranda and two of the passengers managed to escape the sinking vehicle, swim to the bank and climb out. The third passenger, identified as Lupita Ontiveros, 21, of Stockton, has not been located. Ontiveros is the mother of an 18‑month‑old daughter. The dune buggy has been pulled from the canal.

According to CHP, the two surviving passengers and an independent witness reported that Miranda fled the scene after reaching the bank. Both passengers were taken by ambulance to a hospital with moderate injuries.

Officers later went to Miranda’s residence, where he was arrested without incident. CHP said he was booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit‑and‑run.

As of Monday morning, Ontiveros had not been found. The CHP Los Banos office is leading the investigation with assistance from the Merced County Sheriff’s Office dive team, which has been searching the canal. Authorities said murky water and a strong current have made recovery efforts difficult.

The investigation remains ongoing.