WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — A motorist was talking on her cellphone to her future wife when powerful winds blew a tree limb onto her car and killed her, authorities said.
Rochelle Hager, 31, of Waterville, was an executive chef who posted popular TikTok videos and was engaged to be married this fall.
“It happened really quick,” Brittanie Lynn Ritchie told the Morning Sentinel. “She has a phone mounted in her vent. I just heard a crash and then there was nothing.”
Hager was driving in Farmington when a storm that produced gusts topping 50 mph (80 kph) toppled the tree limb and killed her instantly, authorities said.
Hager was the sole occupant, and no other vehicles were involved, said Farmington Police Chief Kenneth Charles, who called the situation “tragic and unique.”
Hager and Ritchie were both popular on TikTok. Together, they had more than 400,000 followers. Ritchie posted a tearful tribute and said Hager “loved her TikTok fam.”