Police on Tuesday identified a mother found dead off an Arkansas highway hours after authorities found her 3-year-old son wandering nearby.
Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Police, said his agency was notified of the wreck shortly before 12:50 p.m. Monday.
Around 8 a.m. that day, deputies found the toddler wandering on Arkansas 24 west of Camden. The child was then taken to the Ouachita County jail, where he was cared for before being placed into Department of Human Services custody.
When deputies later returned to the area, they found the body of 25-year-old Lisa N. Holliman near a 2001 Chevrolet Impala as well as a 1-year-old boy still fastened in a car seat inside the vehicle.
The car, unseen from the highway, had been in a ravine about 300 yards east of where the 3-year-old was found, lying on its side for about two days before authorities found the site.
Family members hadn’t seen Holliman or her children for several days, Ouachita County sheriff's deputy Nathan Greeley said.
Police say Holliman lost control of the Chevrolet, at which point the car crossed the highway’s centerline and overturned into a ditch. Holliman was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a preliminary report.
The 1-year-old child, awake and alert, was removed and transported to the Ouachita County Medical Center for treatment. He and his 3-year-old brother did not appear to suffer life-threatening injuries.
Greeley said the 3-year-old “basically saved his brother’s life” and called finding the child alive in the car “a miracle.”
Information for this article was contributed by Maggie McNeary of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.