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A new mother from Virginia was struck and killed while walking alone on a busy highway on her first night out with her husband since giving birth.
Witnesses told police that Vanessa Schwartz, 35, "stumbled" into traffic on Interstate 495 and was struck by a car just after 4 a.m. on Sunday (March 10).
Schwartz's family claims that she was kicked out of an Uber on the highway, which led to her death. The Uber driver has been suspended, pending an investigation.
The family shared a screenshot of the receipt from the Uber trip with WRC, which shows her ride ending on or near the highway. However, the receipt notes that her ride ended around 1 a.m. What happened during those three hours remains a mystery.
"This was a preventable situation," the victim's brother-in-law Chad Schwartz told the news station. "That's why this is why this is so devastating. It didn't have to happen."
A preliminary investigation by the Virginia State Police found no evidence that Schwartz was left on the highway by her Uber driver. They said that she made her way onto the highway from a secondary road.
Schwartz's family is still searching for answers about how she ended up wandering alone on the highway in the middle of the night.
"We're not exactly sure what happened, but they were kicked out of the Uber in the middle of the highway, and it was raining and dark," Schwartz said.
It is unclear why her husband, Michael, and the other passenger in the Uber were not with her when she was struck on the highway.