MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Montgomery County — Investigators are working to learn why an Oklahoma woman was jogging on a local highway before being hit and killed by a car.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Vanessa Martinez, 27, of Oklahoma, was hit on I-675 North in Miami Township just before 11 p.m. on Friday.
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State troopers said Martinez parked her car in the berm, up against the cable barriers on the left side of the interstate, and had her hazard lights on.
They don’t know if her car broke down or not.
“That’s still to be determined as we were not able to locate the keys to the vehicle,” OSHP Dayton Post Lieutenant Dallas Root said.
Troopers said one witness called 911 and said they saw a woman walking in the berm next to the left lane here.
Shortly after, a man hit Martinez in the middle of the left lane.
He told state troopers that he suddenly saw her jogging in the roadway.
“In that area, there’s not a whole lot of lighting overhead. And she was not wearing any high visibility clothing that allowed the driver to be able to react quickly enough,” Root said.
Troopers told News Center 7 that Martinez was a tenth of a mile away from her car, heading towards the I-75 interchange, when she was hit.
Investigators are still working to piece together what led up to the crash.
They do know that Martinez was from Oklahoma with no friends or family in the area.
“We’re not 100% sure where she was traveling to. We have been told that she may potentially have been moving to Pennsylvania, but we’re still trying to confirm exactly where she was going, why she was stopped on the side of the road,” Root said.
OSHP is waiting on toxicology results but currently has no evidence that she was impaired when the crash occurred.
Root said the state patrol is not looking into charges for the driver who hit Martinez.
“But obviously, as the investigation progresses, if there’s additional details or things change then obviously we’ll reevaluate our stance on that,” Root said.
Root is asking anyone who witnessed this crash, saw Martinez beforehand, or talked to her, to contact the state patrol.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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