BY BRIAN WHITT/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
bmwhitt@mail.roanoke.edu
FRANKLIN—A Stafford woman was flown to MCV hospital in Richmond after she allegedly overdosed on prescription drugs and set her vehicle on fire in the Walmart parking lot at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Franklin police said.
Three passersby saved the woman from her burning SUV, which was destroyed.
Police would not identify the woman; without a name, her condition could not be checked at the hospital, where she was reportedly taken for smoke inhalation.
David and Larry Brown were walking to their car with their groceries when they smelled smoke and then noticed it was coming from the 56-year-old woman’s 2008 Saturn.
Both ran to the vehicle and pulled the conscious, although unresponsive woman to safety. They returned to the vehicle to find no one else inside before it turned into an inferno.
Police said the woman had taken 60 Valium and 30 glipizide, which is a diabetes medication. It’s also believed she started the fire by lighting a seat on fire with a match.
The woman was reported missing at noon Wednesday. Her sister, who lives in Hertford County, N.C., reported finding a note with content that was cause for concern.
Franklin Realtor and contractor Jim Hart witnessed the fire. He said he was impressed with the fast response by rescue workers and bystanders.