A three-vehicle collision that took place on a rural road in Freehold Township has left an Ocean County woman dead and her three children hospitalized, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced.

At approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, members of the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART), the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Freehold Township Police Department responded to the area of Siloam Road and Old Turkey Swamp Road in Freehold Township. At that location, first responders located the three vehicles involved in the collision: a Ford F350 pickup truck driven by a 53-year-old male resident of Little Egg Harbor Township, a Chrysler Pacifica minivan driven by a 42-year-old female resident of Ocean Township (Ocean County), and a Honda CR-V SUV driven by a 34-year-old male resident of Jackson Township.

The driver of the minivan was pronounced dead at the scene, and her 3-year-old child was transported via medical helicopter to Jersey Shore Regional Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition. The deceased woman’s other two children in the vehicle, ages 9 and 13, were also taken to Jersey Shore via ambulance for treatment of injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

The preliminary investigation has indicated that the pickup truck left the southbound lane of Siloam Road and struck the involved SUV with a glancing blow before colliding head-on with the minivan immediately thereafter. Both surviving drivers remained at the scene.

The circumstances behind this matter remain under active investigation.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or has any information about it is urged to contact MCPO Detective Nicolas Logothetis or Freehold Township Police Department Detective Lt. Joseph Winowski