HICKORY, N.C. — The NC Highway Patrol is investigating after a 19-year-old college student was killed in a car crash just outside Hickory.
Officials say the car went down an embankment and hit a tree off 6th Street Drive NW around 10 a.m. Friday, but troopers believe the accident happened around 2 a.m. after the Lenoir-Rhyne University student left a party at home nearby.
Trooper Matthew Adams says the young woman, whose name was not released, was not familiar with the neighborhood and took a wrong turn. Drinking and driving too fast for icy conditions may have also played a role.
Troopers say the road she was on is a dead-end road going toward Lake Hickory, and it had already started freezing rain.
Troopers think she was killed on impact, but wasn’t found until hours later.
