LAWTON Okla_ We now know the
identity of the woman who died in an overnight crash on I-44, just south of Lawton.
Investigators
25-year-old Jessica Gomez of Cyril was driving on the wrong side of the road, when
she drove off the right side of the highway in between two bridges. The car
rolled a couple of times then caught fire before landing under the bridge.
Lawton police said
they still have a long road ahead in this investigation, with some questions
that may never be answered. Lawton Police Captain Craig Akard described what
first responders saw when they arrived at the site of the accident.
"Once they
got there, they did find the vehicle that was engulfed in flames," Akard said. "Fire
got there and finally put the vehicle out. It was found out that there was one
person inside of the vehicle."
Cable barriers
separate the northbound lanes from the southbound lanes on that stretch of
road. The closest place she could have entered the highway in the wrong
direction is 3 miles south of the accident site at the Frederick/Geronimo exit,
which she could've used as an on-ramp.
That is just
speculation, but we do know for sure the early morning wreck congested traffic,
slowing down some drivers during their morning commute. The highway patrol shut
down the inside lane of traffic on the southbound side until around 9:30 AM
Friday.
At one point,
there was concern about the safety of the bridge.
"ODOT came
out," Akard said. "They inspected the bridge, and they said the bridge was
sound and fine."
That and the
fact that it appears to only be a one car accident are about the only good
things to surface from a scene with a ton of question marks. With the help of
witnesses, Lawton
police have answered as many questions as possible, but there are two big ones
that still remain.
"Why was
she going the wrong way?" Akard asked. "The second one: why did she veer off to
the right? We may not ever know."
Right now, Captain Akard said they are waiting on the medical examiner who
was on scene. Their toxicology report will determine whether drugs or alcohol
played a part in the accident.
The car was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, so police are
uncertain if Gomez was trapped inside the car.
