(CREDIT: Google Maps)

The Aurora Police Department is asking for the public’s help in determining exactly when and how a 22-year-old woman was fatally hit Monday morning by an automobile on Orchard Road.

According to an Aurora Police Department news release, police responded at around 2:15 a.m. to a report of a body in the roadway on Orchard Road, in the southbound lanes between Galena Boulevard and Illinois Avenue.

The preliminary investigation indicates the victim, 22-year-old Karla R. Benavides of Geneva, was laying in the roadway and was consequently run over by a 2015 Subaru that was traveling south on Orchard Road.

“At this point, traffic investigators are still trying to make the determination if this was the first vehicular collision with Benavides,” the Aurora Police Department said.

The driver of this Subaru, a 26-year-old Oswego resident, pulled over immediately and remained on the scene until officers arrived. The driver was issued a citation for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and was cooperative with police.

According to preliminary information, it is believed that the victim exited from a friend’s black Chevy Equinox, which was traveling along Orchard Road prior to the crash. The reason for her abrupt exit is still under investigation.

Police are working to locate any other potential witnesses to the incident or the victim’s activity prior to this accident on this night. The victim was transported to the Kane County Coroner’s Office, where an autopsy will be performed. The crash is being investigated by Aurora Police Department Traffic Division.

Anyone with useful information on the crash is asked to call the Aurora Police Department’s Traffic Division 630-256-5330 or Crime Stoppers 630-892-1000.

Orchard Road was closed until about 8 a.m., according to reports.

The Kane County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Monday and determined the preliminary cause of death as “multiple injuries due to an automobile striking a pedestrian.”

SOURCE: Aurora Police Department, Kane County Coroner’s Office news releases