Woman found thrown from vehicle in Gary ID'd

GARY, Ind. (WLS) -- The Lake County, Ind., coroner's office has identified a woman who was killed after being thrown from a vehicle on New Year's Day.

The cause of death for Patricia Spikes, of the 2100 block of Adams St. in Gary, has yet to be officially determined.

Spikes died Saturday after she was "thrown from a vehicle" outside a gas station in northwest Indiana. Spikes was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m. at Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus in Merrillville.

Gary Police Sgt. Thomas Decanter said officers responded shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday to a call of a woman suffering a seizure in the 1700 block of Harrison Street.

The woman was pulled from a vehicle, which was parked outside a gas station, and taken to the hospital, Decanter said. Drugs are thought to have played a role in the death. No foul play is suspected.

An autopsy on Spikes was inconclusive pending further studies, the coroner's office said.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.