The driver who died after plunging into the Edisto River on Monday was a mother of four children who loved spending time with family.

Alantra Nykeema Thomas, 24, died in the crash, according to Anton Seabrooks of North Carolina. He’s her boyfriend and the father of their children.

Thomas was from Allendale but lived in Columbia, Seabrooks said.

He last spoke to her around 10 p.m. Sunday.

“She had a wonderful personality and had a big heart,” he said.

“She loved family time. We liked to take the kids fun places and stuff like that,” he added.

Seabrooks said he got a phone call early Monday morning.

The caller told him that Thomas was in the river, Seabrooks said.

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His first thoughts were “To get dressed and get in the car instant and hit the gas.”

She was driving the 2019 Chevrolet Malibu that he bought her, he said.

The incident occurred at 4 a.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 321 at Tyler’s Landing Road, three miles south of Norway in Orangeburg County.

The southbound Malibu went off the left side of the road and was fully submerged in the water, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Brittany Glover.

Emergency crews blocked U.S. Highway 321 for much of the day as they worked to recover the Malibu from the river.

Clinton Metts, of the Canaan Fire Department, said the organization’s dive team was called to the scene around 4 a.m.

Four divers responded, but one diver entered the water, Metts said.

Diving during dark hours made it difficult to see, Metts said. The diver found the Malibu not long after entering the water.

Metts estimates the car was submerged about 10 feet underwater.

Metts said pulling the car from the water took a while because the towing company had to get more equipment.

Several agencies were assisting at the scene on Monday: S.C. Highway Patrol, Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office, Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Orangeburg County EMS and the Canaan Fire Department’s dive team.

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