UPDATE 6:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY — Police said they believe the woman who was found dead on Interstate 40 near the Streets at Southpoint mall this morning had been in a wreck and then walked into traffic.
Investigators said they believe the woman, who has yet to be identified, was driving a Toyota in the far-right lane of I-40 East when she struck the side or tire of a tractor-trailer, according to a Durham Police Department statement.
The impact forced her into a guardrail. She then got out of the car and walked into traffic, where she was hit multiple times, the statement says.
A report of a deer in the road was called in at about 6:18 a.m. When Durham police arrived, they found a woman's body, according to an earlier police press release.
Interstate 40 East slowed to a crawl after the road went down to two lanes between Fayetteville Road and Miami Boulevard shortly after the incident. The lanes were reopened at about 11 a.m., Durham Police Department spokeswoman Kammie Michael said in an e-mail.
