Teen Killed Took Mom's Car, Was Driving Without A License

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Saddle Brook teenager who was killed in a South Brunswick car crash Sunday evening was 16 years old and driving without a license, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Brooke Costanzo, who only had her learner's permit, sneaked off in her mother's car Sunday afternoon and her family in Bergen County is still trying to figure out what she was doing in Middlesex County, more than 50 miles from home, Saddle Brook police confirmed to Patch.

"Brooke did not posses a valid driver's license and had taken her mother's vehicle without her Mom's knowledge sometime in the late afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 3," said Chief Robert Kugler of the Saddle Brook police department.

Kugler said Costanzo's mother, Janine, called police at 5:30 p.m. the day of the crash to report the car and her daughter missing. Both the teen and the vehicle were subsequently entered into the National Crime Information Center as missing and authorities attempted to locate her via cell phone signal.

Less than an hour later, she crashed.

Authorities say the teen took her mother's 2012 Honda Pilot without permission sometime Sunday afternoon and ended up far from home, on South Brunswick's rural, winding and dark roads. The SUV veered off a curve on Fresh Ponds Road near Selma Drive at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, and struck a tree.

"We can't even fathom how this could have happened," her uncle, Vincent Costanzo of Morristown, told NJ.com.

South Brunswick police said they found the teen's cell phone amidst the wreckage and are now combing it for clues as to what she was doing in the area.

It took South Brunswick firefighters and rescue crews over 30 minutes to pull her body from the mangled damage of the car. She was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick in extremely critical condition but succumbed to her injuries just before dawn on Monday, Dec. 4.

"Our local community is deeply saddened by this most tragic loss," Kugler added.

Costanzo was a Saddle Brook cheerleader, and also played lacrosse and volleyball. She was described as a popular, well-liked athlete who also coached pee-wee cheerleading and liked to work with children. She worked with Saddle Brook school district's before-care and after-care programs, Saddle Brooke Superintendent Anthony Riscica told NJ.com.

A candlelit vigil will be held for Brooke Tuesday night at Saddle Brook High School, where she was a junior.

When Brooke was only 10 years old, her father, Timothy Costanzo, died in a motorcycle crash near Interstate 80. So far, $40,000 has been raised for the family via a GoFundMe page.

She is survived by her mother and older twin sisters Paige and Samantha.

"There are no words to express how sorrowful you feel for them," a family friend told Patch. "They are a great family, pillars of the community. All three daughters are bright, talented and just really nice girls."

Related: Saddle Brook Teen Killed In South Brunswick Crash Sunday

Photo of Brooke Costanzo via GoFundMe