BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Police in Bloomington are seeking the public's help after determining a woman found dead in a ditch in late January had been struck by a car.
Around 3:30 p.m. Jan. 28, officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to the 3200 block of South Walnut Street Pike, near East Winslow Road, for a report of a possible death.
A man said he had been in a car traveling on Walnut Street Pike when he saw what he thought was a body in a ditch off the side of the road. Officers located a deceased woman, identified by the Monroe County Coroner's Office as 37-year-old Jade Sanders, who was experiencing homelessness at the time.
A Jan. 31 autopsy revealed Sanders had "numerous injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle," Bloomington police said. Surveillance video from a nearby parking lot captured video of Sanders being struck by a car.
The crash happened around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, and the car is believed to be a large, dark SUV that had been traveling south of Walnut Street Pike, police said.
One passerby in the area at the time told police they stopped and spoke with a man walking around an SUV matching that description who said he thought he had just struck a deer.
The Bloomington Police Department is asking anyone who may have information on the dark SUV that was pulled off on the side of the road around 6:45 p.m. that day.
"It is believed that the front of the vehicle was damaged in the crash," police said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Chris Scott at 812-349-3382.
