Pine Grove, PA : Woman struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County on Monday night, April 6, 2015

State police have released the identity of a woman who died when she was struck by a tractor-trailer in Pine Grove Township on Monday night.

Trooper David Womer of the Jonestown station said the crash occurred in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 near mile marker 100, the Pine Grove exit.

The woman was identified as Eldora Youst, 56, of Minersville, according to Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Joseph Pothering.

Pothering said he pronounced Youst dead at the scene at 9:46 p.m. and attributed the cause of death to blunt force injuries.

Womer said that about 8:55 p.m., Youst was walking on the northbound lanes of the highway, prompting two tractor-trailer drivers to call 911 and report the incident. While emergency personnel were responding to the scene, the woman was struck by a third tractor-trailer.

Womer said the driver of the truck, whom he did not identify, that struck the woman was not injured.

Why Youst was walking on the highway has yet to be determined.

“The cause of death and determination are under investigation,” Womer said, although earlier Monday, police had called the incident a suicide.

Pothering said a virtual autopsy is scheduled on Youst at the Simon Kramer Cancer Institute, New Philadelphia.

A supervisor at the Schuylkill County Communications Center said the northbound lanes of the interstate re-opened about 11:10 p.m. Monday and that Pine Grove Township firefighters assisted with traffic control while the incident was investigated.

Source :
Woman is struck, killed by tractor-trailer on I-81 near Pine Grove