Tragic accident after crash
A Georgia woman who was initially reported missing following a car crash was later found dead in a “deep well,” in what authorities have described as a “tragic accident.”
Shirley Obert, a Chick-fil-A employee, was involved in the crash on Saturday morning in Monroe County, just outside of Atlanta, according to the County Sheriff’s Office.
Search efforts and discovery
On Saturday, March 29, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia posted on Facebook, alerting locals near Oxford Road and Abercrombie Road about Ms. Obert’s possible presence in the area.
Authorities later determined that while Ms. Obert had survived the crash, she tragically died after falling into a hidden “deep well” while trying to seek help, The New York Post reported.
Her body was discovered “at the bottom of a deep well that was surrounded by very thick brush, near where her car was found,” officials stated. “It is not the outcome that we were hoping for.”
Circumstances of the accident
Anna Watkins, public information officer for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, told The Macon Telegraph that Ms. Obert was on her way to work when “the one-vehicle accident involving a Mazda Miata occurred around 7 a.m.”
Ms. Obert was reportedly the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
After her car veered into a wooded area, she reportedly called her husband for help, but when he arrived at the location she described, he was unable to find her.
Unanswered questions
Authorities have not yet determined what caused Ms. Obert’s car to run off the road.
“She could have tried to avoid an animal or looked down for a minute—we just do not know,” Ms. Watkins said.
Multi-agency search operation
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia State Patrol Aviation, Monroe County Fire Department, Macon-Bibb County Fire Department, and Forsyth Police Department joined the extensive search effort, which lasted through Saturday night and resumed on Sunday, March 30.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, her body was found in the deep well.
Official statement
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office stated, “Mrs. Obert appeared to have been trying to go for help when this incident occurred. This appears to be a tragic accident.”