By By MARY-ALLISON LANCASTER – Managing editor
A woman working on her car died Monday after she became trapped under her vehicle, Escambia County officials announced this week.
Sheriff's deputies, along with officers from the Brewton Police Department, East Brewton Police Department, Dixonville Volunteer Fire Department and the Escambia County Rescue Squad arrived at the residence of Dianne Gibson Chavez shortly after 8 a.m. Monday.
According to a news release, once officers arrived, they found 45-year-old Chavez in her front yard pinned under her white Ford Taurus. She was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics with D.W. McMillan Ambulance Service. Her body was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Mobile to have an autopsy performed.
According to Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff Grover Smith, a witness was pulling out of Dixon Nursery Road and noticed a body under the car in Chavez's driveway.
The witness, who was not identified, immediately called 911 after seeing the victim was unresponsive. The car engine was still running. Neighbors immediately jacked the car up in an effort to free the victim.
Smith said that it appeared that the vehicle was not equipped with a metal rod to hold the hood up. Smith speculated that Chavez was holding the hood of the vehicle with one arm while she worked on the car with the other. The car was still in the drive position as she worked on the car. It appears that the car started and rolled over her, trapping her underneath the car.
Smith added that Chavez's death is still under investigation. According to Smith, all unattended deaths in Escambia County (Ala.) are treated as a homicide. However, facts in the initial investigation are consistent with an accidental death.