Woman Run Over on Florida Highway After Falling Off Motorcycle During First Date, Family Says

Stock photo of police tape. (Carl Ballou/Shutterstock)

A woman who died after she was run over on Interstate 95 may have fallen off a motorcycle she was riding while on a date. The man she was with reportedly left her for dead.

“We don’t know how anybody could do something like that. It’s the hardest part,” Amy Gamer, the aunt of the victim Jennifer St. Clair, told WESH.

St. Clair, 33, was found dead at 3 a.m. on Dec. 7 near Atlantic Boulevard exit in Pompano Beach. Officials said she was repeatedly and accidentally struck by vehicles while in the roadway.

Her family said St. Clair was on a date with a man she had met online but details are not clear. The Miami Herald reported the two went to a downtown Delray Beach bar.

Her family said she presumably fell off the bike on the way back home.

“That’s all the family knows, that she was on a date with a fellow. They believe they met online somehow,” said the family’s attorney, Todd Falzone, reported the Herald. “Two other couples, who were also on motorcycles, also went along.”

Some witnesses said they saw a man on a bike standing near her body before taking off, according to the Herald.

“We’re still trying to process this. We are trying to get closure,” Gamer said. “She was a very sweet girl who would do anything for anybody.”

Officials have not released any information about the motorcyclist.

“This is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Falzone told the paper. “It’s gonna take a lot of work to figure out what happened, but we’re going to bring those accountable to justice.”

No arrests have been made in the case. The Florida Highway Patrol said the matter is under investigation.

Jennifer St. Clair’s sister-in-law called on the public for help in figuring out what happened to the woman.

“She loved my children and her nephew and her other niece and her brother,” Ashley St. Clair told Local10. “My husband is absolutely a complete mess and to break the news to my children that their aunt is no longer here breaks my heart as a mother.”

“She was good-natured, easy to get along with, well liked, and a beautiful girl,” Gamer told CBS Miami of the woman.

Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to contact Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

US Traffic Deaths Down Overall in 2018

U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.1 percent in the first six months of 2018, according to preliminary figures released in October, Reuters reported. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that in 2017, traffic deaths fell by 1.8 percent to 37,133 after traffic deaths rose sharply in the previous two years, according to final figures.

The U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to 1.08 deaths per 100 million miles traveled for the first half of 2018. The fatality rate in 2017 was 1.16 million deaths per 100 million miles traveled—the second highest rate since 2008.

“This is good news and bad news,” said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council, CNBC reported. “The total number of fatalities is not getting worse, but the situation is not getting better.”

Hersman cited distracted driving and higher speed limits for the number.