ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — "Unfortunately, I can't tell you a lot about the victim and that's what makes it such a difficult case," Dr. Charles Preston, St. Tammany Parish Coroner said.
On a small bridge in Bayou Lacombe, a woman suffered a terrifying accident on Saturday which eventually killed her.
"What we're hoping for of course is for somebody who knows her and is missing her will step forward," Dr. Preston said.
Around 5:30 p.m. Saturday an African-American woman, believed to be between 30 and 40-years-old, was walking eastbound along Highway 190 at Bayou Castine Bridge, east of Mandeville, when she was struck by a 2005 Kia Amanti.
State police say she landed in the center of the eastbound lane and was hit again by a 2011 BMW 528.
According to witnesses, the woman was staggering a bit and was in the roadway when she was struck by the first vehicle.
The bridge has high concrete guardrails, but no shoulders.
What authorities know right now is that the woman is an African American, medium complexion with shoulder-length hair, around 5' 6'' in height, was wearing dark clothing and was carrying two bags of clothes.
Lacombe resident Forest Green said he was shocked to hear about her death.
"I hope they find her. That's sad. I mean, nobody here in this town I heard missing anybody but, I don't know if she's a runaway or whatever but, I hope ya'll could find out who she is and all that," Green said.
Preston says complicating this case is the fact that the woman didn't have a wallet or phone on her.
"Here in St. Tammany Parish we have an in-house DNA lab. But again, if we don't have a reference, to compare it to, it doesn't do any good to get a DNA specimen at this time," Dr. Preston said.
The victim does not have any surgical scars or tattoos, but Preston said she did have abdominal stretch marks, which makes him believe she probably had a baby in the past.
They are now processing her fingerprints in a database, but the fastest way of finding out the woman's name is for someone to come forward.
"She's somebody's daughter. Somebody's sister. Somebody's aunt. There's gotta be somebody some relative," Dr. Preston said.
For now, the victim remains nameless.
State Police say both drivers and their passengers were wearing seat belts and were not injured. Both drivers submitted breath samples and showed no amount of alcohol.