An 18-year-old PennWest California freshman was found dead inside her vehicle early Thursday near the university's California, Pennsylvania campus, after her family used GPS tracking to locate her car when she missed a scheduled check-in call. Karoline Heintz, of McMurray, had spent time with family earlier in the day before she was due back at her campus residence hall, and when she did not check in as planned, relatives called 911.
According to WPXI, family members called 911 at around 12:14 a.m. Thursday after tracking Heintz's vehicle to Wood Street. Police were called to the area of the California Area Public Library at 100 Wood Street around 12:24 a.m., and Heintz was found dead inside her car near the library at approximately 12:30 a.m., as reported by CBS News. The library, per the same account, sits inside a historic 19th-century former Pennsylvania Railroad station on the National Register of Historic Places, directly adjacent to PennWest California's campus buildings and its high-traffic student walkways.
A Student-Athlete From Washington County
Heintz was a freshman defender on the PennWest California women's soccer team, according to the university's athletics roster. The 5-foot-9 defender had signed her National Letter of Intent in December 2025 while attending Peters Township High School before enrolling at the Division II program this fall.
Her hometown of McMurray sits roughly 30 miles north of California Borough, the small Washington County community along the Monongahela River where PennWest California is located, according to Hoodline's recent coverage of the borough. California Borough had a population of 5,479 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. The university itself, formerly California University of Pennsylvania, was formed in July 2022 when California, Clarion and Edinboro state universities integrated under the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
State Police, Coroner's Office Investigating
The death is being investigated jointly by Pennsylvania State Police and the Washington County Coroner's Office, the same agencies that typically lead death probes in municipal boroughs when the cause or manner of death has not yet been determined, per CBS News. Neither the cause nor the manner of Heintz's death had been determined as of Thursday, and law enforcement has not announced any evidence of foul play.
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco's office is expected to conduct further examination before releasing findings. Under Pennsylvania's coroner statutes, county coroners are legally required to perform autopsies and toxicology testing whenever a death occurs suddenly, unexpectedly, or under undetermined circumstances, the Observer-Reporter has noted in prior coverage of the law. Toxicology results in such cases typically take several weeks to come back from the lab.
How the 911 Call Reached Responders
Emergency calls originating in California Borough are routed through the Washington County 911 Dispatch Center, which coordinates communications for 44 police departments serving roughly 200,000 residents countywide, Hoodline has reported. The county's emergency response infrastructure has been under scrutiny in recent months; commissioners approved a $41.2 million contract in July for a new public safety building meant to consolidate emergency communications and public safety operations countywide, following debate over the spending.
PennWest California has not issued a public statement on Heintz's death as of this writing. The investigation remains open, and officials have not said when autopsy or toxicology findings might be released.
