An eastern Pennsylvania school district bus driver discovered his colleague pinned between two cars in an elementary school parking lot late Tuesday night.
Bonny Novack, 61, was trying to stop her two-door Volkswagen from roling down a hill after it slipped into gear, police said. Investigators said they suspect the woman tripped and fell, and was then crushed and killed as her VW pinned her against another vehicle, police said.
"She was a great everyday employee," said Ron Pacchioli, the transportation supervisor for the Easton Area School District. "Very safe driver on the road for us."
"It's pretty unreal to everyone right now," he continued.
The night mechanic discovered her in a sitting position -- her head crushed by her car's headlight -- in the Easton Area School District's bus depot at Tracy Elementary School in Palmer Township around 7 p.m. and notified police, according to detectives.
"He walked out, got in his truck to leave and noticed something didn't look right," Pacchioli said.
Officials said Novack may have been there for about an hour before she was found.
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She had worked as a bus driver for the district for the past three years.
Responding officers found the red Volkswagen -- a stick shift vehicle -- in neutral, said detectives, who added the emergency brake was not engaged.
School officials told investigators Novack often had to compression start her car, meaning she popped the clutch once the Volkswagen was already in motion -- which may be why she was parked at the top of the hill, authorities said.
The Easton Area School District delayed the start of the school day for two hours Wednesday so Novack's coworkers could take part in a 90-minute meeting, where grief counselors were made available.
Superintendent John Reinhart said the district was attending to the important needs of its employees and that they were unable to pick up students until after the meeting.
