EVANSTON — A 23-year-old Fort Bridger woman was arrested on Friday, May 18, on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the case of the death of her young daughter nearly five years ago.

According to court documents, Sorena Sorensen was smoking heroin when her daughter, who was approximately 14 months old at the time, went out a back door and drowned in a nearby creek.

A story that ran in the Herald on Sept. 17, 2013, detailed the death of Vada Bridge. At the time it was reported that a rain and hail storm may have delayed first responders and played a role in the toddler’s death. First responders to the scene were unable to locate a pulse and described the child as cold to the touch. LifeFlight was summoned but was unable to land due to the storm, and the child was later pronounced dead at Evanston Regional Hospital.

In statements given to law enforcement at the time, Sorensen allegedly claimed she had gone outside to smoke a cigarette and when she returned approximately 10 minutes later, her daughter was gone. Court documents state she told investigators there was a chair near the back door that the child must have used to open the door and go outside.

Sorensen said she looked for her daughter for about an hour before calling her mother, who then went to the residence to assist in the search, according to court documents. The toddler was found by Sorensen’s mother face down in the nearby shallow creek.

Court documents state that in February of this year, authorities were contacted by an individual claiming to have knowledge of the events in the case. Further investigation based on information provided by that caller uncovered Facebook messages in which Sorensen allegedly described her daughter’s death as “all being her fault.”