Jackson, Calif. ? Rescue workers struggled for hours before recovering the bodies of a woman and three children, ages 1 through 3, who died when their car plunged into a frigid river.

The driver — the boyfriend of the woman and father of two of the children — survived and was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. The man and his brother told authorities they were washed downstream when they opened a door to get out.

The car hurtled into the Mokelumne River about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento on Friday afternoon. After floating about 400 yards downstream, it wedged against a rock as water filled the car.

After darkness Friday cut short their efforts to retrieve the bodies, rescuers struggled against rapids for five hours Saturday and removed two children’s bodies. A helicopter hoisted the sedan out, but only the woman was inside.

Late Saturday afternoon, searchers found the body of the third child in the river, according to Amador County sheriff.

Authorities arrested driver Joshua Julin, 20, of nearby Mokelumne Hill.

Julin’s father, Bret, said the woman was Katie Corbett, his son’s girlfriend of about a year. He identified the children as Corbett’s daughter Kiara, 2, and Julin’s daughter Mariah, 3, and son Andrew, 1.