WOODBINE, Ga.,None — Georgia authorities are looking for a hit-and-run driver who ran a Gastonia trio off an interstate highway Sunday afternoon, killing one woman and injuring another woman and a young child.
Jean Leonard, 60, died in the wreck, which occurred about 2:10 p.m. on I-95 near the city of Woodbine, about 19 miles north of the Florida-Georgia state line.
Leonard was a passenger in a Ford Escape driven by Cynthia Bolch, 53, of 1012 Holly Hills Drive, Gastonia. Bolch and a second passenger, 8-year-old Zachary Rowe, were seriously injured when the Ford overturned and ejected all three people from inside.
Georgia state troopers and Camden County (Ga.) sheriff's deputies are now searching for the driver of the other vehicle involved. Eyewitnesses to the wreck were able to provide scant details, said Steve Drury, a post secretary with the Georgia State Patrol.
"All we have for certain is that is was a white passenger car," he said.
Details indicate the car may have been a Toyota sedan with a gold emblem of some sort, possibly with New York license plates.
Other motorists along the interstate told investigators that the two vehicles were both traveling north on I-95 when the white car, in the left-hand lane, began repeatedly ramming the Ford in the left side, Drury said.
"Witnesses said they struck several times," he said. "The unknown vehicle then hit the Ford in the rear, which caused the driver to lose control, spin off the road and overturn."
Neither Leonard, Bolch or Rowe were wearing seat belts when they were ejected, Drury said.
Rowe reportedly suffered head injuries and was transported to Southeast Georgia Health System's Brunswick hospital.
Authorities said Bolch also suffered head and neck injuries. She was listed in critical condition Monday afternoon at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Ga., according to a hospital spokesman.
Efforts to make contact with any local family members of those involved in the wreck were unsuccessful Monday.
Anyone with information about the hit and run is urged to call the Georgia State Patrol at 912-262-2380 or Camden County Sheriff's Office at 912-510-5100.
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