AUBURN – Police on Monday were continuing to search for relatives of a woman seriously injured in a Friday-morning crash on Washington Street.

The woman remained hospitalized Monday night with head injuries suffered in the 6 a.m. wreck. Police said she was thrown from her car, then pinned under another vehicle involved in the crash.

Investigators said the woman was driving north about 6 a.m. Friday when her car collided with a tractor-trailer. The impact forced her Dodge Shadow into the southbound lane, where it was hit by an oncoming car.

The victim was ejected from her car and became wedged under the back of the southbound vehicle, police said. She was the only person seriously hurt.

As Auburn police and Maine State Police continue to investigate the crash, the accident report has not been released. None of the drivers has been identified.

When dealing with crashes with life-threatening injuries, it is customary for police to withhold identities of those involved until family members are notified. Normally, that takes a few hours.

According to Auburn Deputy Police Chief Phil Crowell, the Friday-morning crash has presented investigators with an unusual situation. Although the accident victim remains alive, police still need to follow protocol by searching for next of kin.

Crowell said investigators have contacted the accident victim’s employer, who is trying to help locate family members. The deputy chief expects to review the case Tuesday before deciding whether to release identities of those involved in the crash.

Police said the woman, who is in her 50s, lived in the Auburn area a few years ago but is not known to have any relatives here. It was believed she left the area for at least two years before returning recently and moving into the Bass Motel on Washington Street.

No charges have been filed in connection with the accident.


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