News 12 @ 5 o'clock -- July 22, 2008

HEPHZIBAH, Ga.---A woman's car ran off the road and caught fire along the 5100 block of Story Mill Road in Hephzibah. Her 2000 Honda Civic was destroyed and she died in the fire.

All that remains of a 2000 Honda Civic after it ran off the road is the metal frame. A charred log is still stuck to the car and only a metal frame sits where the seat used to be. Rubber from the tires melted off the car as it went up in flames and only an outline of what used to be a steering wheel remains.

Investigators say the driver was going north along the 51-hundred block of Story Mill Road when she lost control, and went off the wrong side of the road.

Parts from the car are in a pasture nearby and pieces of wood and grass that were burned when the car hit the embankment.

When the car hit, the woman was thrown from the car and then pinned by it.
She was pronounced dead on the scene at 4:12 am.

The woman's body was turned over to the GBI and an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.

Last year there were 33 highway deaths in Richmond County and this year, the numbers are already more than half that.

We'll have more information just as soon as the victim is identified.