Photos from the scene of a fatal car crash in Maryland show significant damage to the front of the 1995 Honda Accord in which actress Kaylee Hottle was a passenger. Hottle, known for her role in "Godzilla vs. Kong," died Tuesday morning from injuries sustained in the accident. She was 18 years old.
The vehicle "traveled off the right side of the two-lane roadway and struck a culvert," according to a press release from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department. "Excessive speed is believed to be a contributing factor in the collision."
The car was severely mangled, with the hood smashed and caved in, and tires missing hubcaps. The front passenger-side door was left open. The driver of the vehicle was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the other passenger declined medical assistance.
Hottle was taken to a local trauma center and later pronounced dead. The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death an accident caused by "blunt force injuries."
First responders at the scene requested assistance locating someone who knew sign language or had access to an interpreter app to communicate with Hottle, who was deaf. Dispatch audio indicated she was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived.
Hottle's father, Joshua Hottle, who is also deaf, announced her death in a Facebook livestream. He told TMZ that he received a call from authorities while in Texas and was later informed that his daughter's heart had stopped en route to the hospital. He subsequently traveled to Maryland to claim her body.