Cape Breton Regional Police are investigating a single-vehicle rollover that left a young woman dead on the weekend.
Police were called to a dirt road off Lorway Street in Reserve Mines around 12:45 a.m. Saturday.
Police say a small SUV spun out of control and rolled off the road, landing on its roof in a brook.
“The vehicle was travelling down the dirt road, left the road, rolled into a body of water and became partially submerged,” confirms Desiree Vassallo, a spokeswoman for the Cape Breton Regional Police.
Two occupants – a 25-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman – managed to escape the vehicle. They ran to a nearby home and called 911.
However, another woman remained trapped inside the vehicle. Emergency crews eventually freed the victim but it was too late.
“She was rescued by fire crews and EHS but unfortunately they were unable to revive her,” says Vassallo.
Police have identified the victim as 19-year-old Miranda Musgrave of Glace Bay. She had recently been hired at a call centre in her hometown.
“She just started working here not that long ago,” says co-worker Kelly Martell. “This was her first job. She was well-liked in the building, from what I understand.”
Musgrave is presumed to have drowned.
Investigators believe she was travelling in the backseat of the vehicle and was wearing a seatbelt at the time.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident, which took place on a rough, pothole-filled road typically used by all-terrain vehicles. Police say speed, alcohol and the vehicle’s mechanical condition are all possible factors being investigated.
Police say the information gathered from the driver and the surviving passenger will be crucial in determining a cause, and whether charges will be laid.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Randy MacDonald
