An 18-year-old woman lost her life this morning when her car overturned off Airport Road and threw her from the vehicle.

The accident occurred about 8:55 a.m. just west of Grants Creek in an area that Locke Fire Chief Rusty Alexander says has a menacing morning sun and is especially icy in winter months.

Trooper Glenn Hester could not identify the victim, pending notification of relatives. But two Locke firefighters on the scene were visibly upset after recognizing the victim as a recent student at West Rowan High.

Hester said the eastbound Kia sedan apparently left the road on the right, crossed back to the left, hit a mailbox, overturned and threw the driver from the car before landing upright with its nose in the ditch.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident occurred near the front drive and yard of a duplex where Juanita Teeter lives. The duplex is just west of the entrance to a new, unbuilt subdivision called Cedar Village at Grants Creek.

Teeter said she heard “a real loud skid like she was trying to stop” before hearing a louder crash. Teeter rushed out to her porch and saw the top of the car sticking out from the ditch, but she could not see a driver.

Teeter immediately called 911. She added that she had not seen an accident at this spot since moving here in February.

A Rowan Emergency Medical Service ambulance had a flat tire soon after leaving the scene with the body.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.