Police identify woman, 35, who died after her car plunged off 200-foot cliff on Maui
COURTESY MAUI POLICE DEPARTMENT
The wreckage from a deadly crash on Maui was seen, Monday, at the foot of a cliff in Kahakuloa.
GOOGLE MAPS
A 35-year-old Lahaina woman died in a single-vehicle crash Monday after her vehicle plummeted off a cliff in Kahakuloa, according to Maui police.
She has been identified as Polyana De Melo, police said.
The deadly crash occurred just after 12:30 p.m. on Kahekili Highway near mile marker 16.
A preliminary investigation indicated a 2019 Nissan sedan was traveling east on Kahekili Highway when the driver failed to negotiate a curve in the road and drove off the cliffside, police said.
The vehicle landed on a rocky shoreline 200 feet below.
The driver later identified as De Melo was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. She was the lone occupant of the Nissan.
Police said she was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The sedan’s airbags did deploy at the time of impact.
It’s not known at this time whether speed, alcohol or drugs were involved. Police are continuing their investigation.
This is the first traffic-related fatality for Maui County compared to two at the same time last year.
