Macon woman killed after her car runs over her, coroner says

A 92-year-old woman was killed Monday morning when her car accidentally ran over her.

Dorothy “Dot” Elder was at Riverside Animal Hospital on Riverside Drive about 9:35 a.m. when her 2004 Lincoln Town Car ran over her, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said.

She was taken to the Medical Center, Navicent Health, where she was pronounced dead about 11:08 a.m.

Veterinarian Angela Shurling said Elder was injured while looking for her 5-year-old black cat, Rascal, who’d escaped from her arms Saturday after an appointment.

“She’d been coming up here to check on (Rascal),” Shurling said. “We’ve had traps and things set back here. When she got out of the car, she didn’t get it in park (and) she got knocked down, her leg run over. ... Nobody actually really saw what happened exactly.”

At one point Elder apparently put the car in reverse instead of park, according to a release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

Elder, who lived at 779 Nottingham Drive, was the wife of the late Rex Elder, a longtime aviation director for Macon.

“It’s just a horrible accident,” said Shurling, who came to Elder’s aid after she was injured. “She was one of those little ladies that was just a sweetheart. I’m shocked to hear (of Elder’s death) because ... it didn’t seem to be a life-threatening injury. We were kind of stunned.”

A Bibb County sheriff’s traffic fatality investigator took pictures Monday afternoon of tire tracks in the parking lot, part of a continuing investigation.

There have been 13 auto-related fatalities this year in Macon-Bibb County — nine from car wrecks and four involving pedestrian deaths.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Macon woman killed after her car runs over her, coroner says."