MANCHESTER – A 22-year-old woman is dead in an early morning accident on Route 70 that involved her vehicle flipping over several times.
Manchester Township Police believe fatigue was a contributing factor in the crash that left Margaret Palilonis of Woolwich Township dead after she was ejected from her Jeep.
Police confirmed officers arrived at the scene around 2:10 a.m. on January 23 at Route 70 near mile marker 35.5. When they got there, a blue 2015 Jeep Wrangler was overturned in the wooded area on the side of the road.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Palilonis was driving westbound on 70 when the Jeep left the road onto the shoulder. Police believe she tried to correct her steering to re-enter the road, but the move caused the Jeep to overturn multiple times before coming to a rest on the side of the road.
Police said Palilonis was thrown from her vehicle and suffered fatal injuries. She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
Route 70 was shut down in both directions for several hours during the investigation and cleanup.
Police said firefighters from both the Whiting Volunteer and the Joint Base Fire Departments, EMTs from the Manchester Township Division of Emergency Services and paramedics from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital all assisted at the scene.
Also assisting were detectives from the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigations Unit (CSI) and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The crash is currently under investigation by Ptl. Michael Anderson of the Manchester Township Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit.
