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Sonoma woman dies in Cavedale accident

 

A 52-year-old Sonoma woman was killed when her vehicle ran off Cavedale Road last weekend.

Officer Jaret Paulson, with the California Highway Patrol's Napa office, identified the woman as Barbara Bradley, 52, of Sonoma.

Paulson said authorities aren't sure when the accident occurred but it was discovered shortly after 6 p.m. Monday. A friend said nobody had been able to contact Bradley on Sunday.

Bradley was a businesswoman who owned Barbara Bradley's Caregiving Services and Sonoma Steps, a clothing store, just off the Plaza.

Paulson said that a witness reported seeing something mid-day Monday, but authorities couldn't find anything at that time. Later in the day, the witness took authorities to the site and that's when the vehicle was discovered 50 feet down a cliff on Cavedale.

Paulson said Bradley, driving a 1999 Chevy pickup truck, was eastbound on Cavedale, when for an unknown reason, her vehicle left the south side of the road and overturned several times before dropping 50 feet down a cliff.

Paulson said Bradley wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was ejected and sustained fatal injuries.

Paulson said any witnesses can call the CHP's Napa office at 253-4906.

"Right now, there's a lot of unknowns," Paulson said Tuesday.

Tony Russo, a longtime friend of Bradley's, said both he and her family had been trying to reach her since sometime Sunday.

"The family's is pretty much in shock," Russo said. "She's been missing since Sunday and the family wasn't notified until Tuesday."

He said Bradley was "an incredibly kind woman who took care of everybody else before herself."

Russo, who is a photographer, said he has known Bradley since she bought Sonoma Steps, five or six years ago and said she would donate items from her shop to a woman's shelter.

"She was incredibly sweet," Russo said. "She was always trying to do the right thing for people."

Her daughter, Danielle Martin, said that her mother was a natural caregiver.

"She was always helping people," Martin said. "Especially young mothers, because she had me when she was 16."

Martin said her mother opened her caregiving business in about 1996. "It was something she always did," Martin said. "She understood what it was like to be a caregiver."

Bradley, her daughter said, also helped the Hispanic community with things such as employment and citizenship.

"The store (Sonoma Steps) was a dream of hers," Martin said. "She loved clothes, she loved to go shopping and she loved the color purple."

In addition to her daughter, Bradley is also survived by three grandchildren, Alexia Michelle Martin, 14, Jason Walker Martin, 12, and Scott Arnold Martin, 10.

No services have been scheduled yet. Martin said she's hoping to schedule services next weekend or possibly the following weekend.