N.C. Highway 15-501 was closed for several hours on Saturday evening, after a fatal crash near Boggs Road north of Eastwood. The crash happened around 7:15 p.m.
Authorities on the scene tell Moore County News that Kaitlin Marie Carney, 33, of Monroe, N.C., was driving a Land Rover northbound on Highway 15-501 when she veered off the right shoulder of the road, went up an embankment, struck a tree and flipped the vehicle. Carney was ejected out of the Land Rover prior to the vehicle landing upright in a ditch. According to the authorities, she was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fire crews from Eastwood, Carthage, and Pinehurst shut down Highway 15-501 between Doubs Chapel Road and N.C. Highway 73 while the crash was investigated and cleared. Debris was scattered along the highway, including a child’s sippy cup, toys, baby wipes. A child seat and baby stroller were also inside the vehicle. Firefighters and police officers searched the area of the crash scene for any child that may have been involved using thermal imaging scanners. No child or additional occupants were found.
The N.C. State Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, and say that it appears Carney was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Troopers say that her child was with grandparents and the driver was the only occupant at the time of the crash.
