A preliminary investigation found that a truck rolled down an incline on 48-year-old Justina M. Wilbur’s property in Troy and struck her. Wilbur was taken to a hospital after being found unresponsive near a garden on September 18; she later died from her injuries.
A family member found Wilbur near the garden, according to WGEL Radio. She was transported by ambulance to Anderson Hospital and pronounced dead there. The Madison County Coroner identified her as Justina M. Wilbur, a 48-year-old Troy woman.
What the Preliminary Investigation Found
The Madison County Sheriff's Office's preliminary investigation indicated that Wilbur had been using a truck with a water tank mounted in the rear when it rolled down an incline and struck her, according to FOX 2.
An autopsy listed a chest injury as the preliminary cause of death, as reported by WGEL. Officials have not released additional details about the exact location of the incident on the property, and no further information has been made public about the vehicle's owner or any witnesses to the accident.
Investigation Remains Preliminary
Both the cause of death and the circumstances surrounding how the truck came to strike Wilbur are still described as preliminary findings, and it remains unclear whether the investigation will produce any additional updates. The Troy community is left grappling with the sudden loss of a woman who died in what appears to have been a tragic accident on her own land.
A Separate Runaway-Vehicle Case
A separate fatal incident documented by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries involved a road-construction laborer who died on September 12, 2006, while trying to stop an unoccupied work vehicle rolling on a rural mountain road. That case occurred during road-sign work, not at a home, and does not establish what Illinois law requires when a vehicle is left parked on a grade.
