FLORENCE TOWNSHIP – A one vehicle accident took the life of a Mendon woman.

St. Joseph County Sheriff Mark Lillywhite says his department was sent just after 7 AM Thursday to Constantine Road, just north of Mintdale Road, on a report of a car upside down in the Fawn River, and completely submerged. Deputies arrived and found the vehicle off the bridge, upside down in the river in about seven feet of water.

Constantine Fire Department personnel put on Mustang suits and entered the river to try and rescue the driver. They found 60 year old Barbara Melinda Phllips of Mendon, and removed her from the vehicle. She was taken by Life Care Ambulance to Three Rivers Health where she was pronounced dead.

Lillywhite says Phillips was driving her Jeep Liberty north on Constantine Road and for an unknown reason veered off the road to the left, and hit the bridge retaining wall. The Jeep then overturned and landed on its roof in the river. It's unknown what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway. The accident
remains under investigation. Also helping at the scene were the White Pigeon Fire Department, the
Constantine Police Department, the Michigan State Police and Dive Rescue.