Two Dead, One Critical in Manchester Head-On Crash

A grisly head-on crash in Manchester leaves two women dead and a third in critical condition.

Township police say the crash occurrred at 4:27 PM Sunday on route 70 near mile marker 42. Frances Cook, 78, died on impact when her red 1999 Subaru Forester collided with a red 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser driven by Roberta Hankins, 59. Hankins was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where she remains in critical condition. The 90-year-old passenger in the Chrysler, Virginia Miller survived briefly but died at Community Medical Center in Toms River.

Traffic in the area was rerouted for more than four hours during investigations.

Helping police were investigators from the Ocean County Sheriff's Department and Prosecutor's Office, MonOc paramedics, Qualtiy Medical Transport, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, the Whiting Fire Department and the Ocean County Medical Examiner.

Manchester Police Officers Paul Bachovchin and Tom O'Hare are continuing the probe.

It was the second fatal car crash on Route 70 during the weekend. In Toms River, township resident Jean McCarthy, 71, died in a head-on crash while being taken home by her husband after a fender-bender. Her husband Ed, 74, remains in serious condition at Jersey Shore.  The other driver, Abel Hernandez of Lakewood, faces multiple charges