Deputies identify driver killed in St. Joseph County crash

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Mich. – A woman has died after her vehicle veered off the road and into a river Thursday morning, the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office reported.

On Feb. 25 at 7:12 a.m., deputies were called to Constantine Road, just north of Mintdale Road, for a report of a car upside down and completely submerged in Fawn River.

When deputies arrived, they found the vehicle submerged in about seven feet of water.

Constantine fire personnel located the driver and removed her from the vehicle.

The driver, 60-year-old Barbara Phillips of Mendon, was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced deceased.

Phillips was driving north on Constantine Road when, for unknown reasons, her vehicle veered off the road and hit a bridge retaining wall.

The vehicle then turned over and landed on its roof in the river.

This crash remains under investigation.

The Constantine Fire Department, Michigan State Police, Dive rescue, White Pigeon Fire, Constantine Police Department, Life Care Ambulance, and Shears Wrecker all assisted at the scene.