Woman Dead after Falling from Vehicle Window on Foothills Parkway

A young woman died after falling out the window of a moving vehicle on the Foothills Parkway on Tuesday.

Park rangers from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park responded to reports of an accident near mile marker 13 of the Foothills Parkway, between Chilhowee Lake and Look Rock, at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Deputies from the Blount County Sheriff Office also responded.

A statement from the National Park Service says 18-year-old Maiah Reilich-Godino, of Eddington, Maine, was sitting in an open rear passenger window while the 2011 Jeep Patriot in which she was traveling was in motion. She was pulling herself up using the vehicle roof rack when it disconnected and she fell from the vehicle.

Deputies and park rangers performed CPR until American Medical Response ambulance service arrived and pronounced Reilich-Godino dead on scene. The driver and front-seat passenger, the only other occupants of the vehicle, were not injured.

Park Rangers are completing the accident investigation. No additional details are available at this time.

Reilich-Godino was a student at Maryville College.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Hancock County 4-H Leaders Association, Bangor Area Recovery Network and the Bangor Ronald McDonald House in her honor.

“Each of these organizations critically shaped, supported and positively guided Maiah and her family through her time here with us,” the family said in a statement. “With them collectively, she was able to blossom as the marvelous spunky Maiah we will always love and hold dear to us. Thank you.”

Cooperative Extension in Hancock County 4-H Leaders Association
63 Boggy Brook Road
Ellsworth, Maine 04605
Tel: 207.667.8212 or 800.287.8212 (in Maine)
extension.hancock@maine.edu
https://extension.umaine.edu/hancock/4h/

Bangor Area Recovery Network (BARN)
142 Center Street
Brewer, Maine 04412
207-561-9444
https://www.bangorrecovery.org/donate/

Ronald McDonald House — Bangor
654 State Street
Bangor, ME 04401
207-942-9003
https://rmhcmaine.org/donate/