SC woman found dead in car that crashed into home, but wreck didn’t kill her, coroner says
A woman died inside of a car that crashed into her South Carolina home Tuesday, but the wreck isn’t what killed her, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.
Janice Carol Bates, an 84-year-old Liberty resident, suffered a medical event that caused her to become unresponsive and crash her vehicle into her home, Coroner Andrew Wilson said in a news release.
At about 11:45 a.m., the coroner’s office responded to a North Freeman Road home where there was a collision, according to the release.
Bates was in her vehicle in her driveway when she had a medical emergency and died at the scene, the coroner’s office said.
No other injuries were reported.
“At this time, it appears that the collision did not factor into the demise of Ms. Bates,” Wilson said in the release.
No cause of death has been announced by the coroner’s office and more information about the type of medical emergency Bates suffered was not available.
The death is being investigated by the coroner’s office and the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Through Sunday, 92 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2025, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, at least 948 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least one person has died in a Pickens County crash in 2025, according to DPS data. There were 17 deaths in the county in 2024, DPS reported.
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This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 7:59 AM.
