Shelby, NC : A Cleveland County woman is dead after crashing into a culvert on May, Tuesday, 16th 2017

A Cleveland County woman is dead after crashing into a culvert, a wall and trees in a rural farming community.

A driver spotted Janet Helms and her mangled car early Tuesday morning on Stroup Road near Sugar Hill Road, northeast of Fallston.

Less than half a mile from her home on Sugar Hill Road, troopers say Helms was driving east on Stroup Road when she struck a culvert by a driveway, went airborne and ran into a wall and several trees.

The impact threw Helms 30 feet into the air and 70 feet from the SUV. Troopers believe she died on impact.

Neighbors reportedly heard the commotion but did not see anything when the incident happened around 10:30 p.m. Monday. Eight hours later, a passerby saw the wreckage and called 911.

“I can’t believe she was out there all night,” Helms’ aunt, Ellen Mull, said.

The family called the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office on Monday when Helms did not return home but no one was able to find her, Mull said.

Investigators believe the woman was driving around 80 mph on the two-lane road and was not wearing a seat belt.

Helms was the operator of a nursing home in the county and also a caregiver to her parents, sister and one patient. The family all live within walking distance of each other, Mull said.

“She was just a good woman. There’s nothing bad I could say about her,” she said.

Helms would have turned 61 Friday.

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