OAKLAND — A woman who plunged nearly 80 feet off the Bay Bridge after crashing a reportedly stolen car early Wednesday may have eluded police by hitching a ride with a truck driver into San Francisco, authorities said.

Authorities combed the shore and waters near the East Bay approach to the bridge after a woman fell soon after the crash, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said.

A CHP officer, who was trained in mental health and crisis intervention, grabbed the woman an attempted to pull her back over the railing, according to the agency. After a minute and a half, she pulled out of the officer’s grip and plunged to the water nearly 80 feet below.

A dye pack was deployed to indicate the location of where the woman fell into the water. A California ID believed to belong to the woman was found in the water, near where she went in.

The woman apparently survived the fall, as authorities said motorists reported seeing her get out of the water near the toll plaza on the span’s eastern edge shortly before 6 a.m.

A few hours later, a dump truck driver told CHP officers that he had picked up the woman by a westbound carpool lane near the toll plaza and drove her over the bridge toward San Francisco, Officer Vu Williams said. He told CHP officers that he drove the woman to a safe location and dropped her off.

Authorities still do not know the woman’s whereabouts, Williams said. Her name has not been released, but she was described as Latina, in her mid 20s, about 5-foot-4, and wearing a black dress.

The incident started around 2:05 a.m., when CHP officers responded to reports of a single-vehicle crash on the bridge’s eastbound lanes, east of the Treasure Island offramp, authorities said.

Officers arrived and found a late model Nissan Maxima that had been reported stolen out of Los Angeles several weeks ago, Williams said.

Officers saw two women walking eastbound on the bridge’s bike path, but another woman had climbed over the bike path railing, before falling into the water, according to the CHP.

The woman who fell into the water was the vehicle’s driver, Williams said.

The other two women, who were passengers in the Nissan, were detained briefly for questioning and released, authorities said.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Oakland police and firefighters helped the CHP in the search. One eastbound lane of the bridge was closed for several hours, causing delays at the toll plaza and on the bridge.

The San Francisco CHP office is investigating leads and attempting to locate the woman to evaluate her wellness, see if she was injured from the incident, and to inquire her about the incident.

Anyone with information on the woman or the incident is encouraged to call 415-557-1094.

Staff writers Harry Harris and Katrina Cameron contributed to this report. Contact Chris De Benedetti at 925-482-7958. Follow him at Twitter.com/cdebenedetti.