Mother Identified In Fatal Toms River Crash, Police Say

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- (Updated, 5 p.m.) A Toms River mother who was killed when her vehicle smashed through trees and rolled down an embankment Wednesday morning has been identified.

Leah Eisdorfer, 28, was killed Wednesday morning in the New Hampshire Avenue crash that spared the life of her infant daughter, Toms River Police spokesman Ralph Stocco said.

The baby girl, who is less than a year old, is in good condition at the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, Stocco said. Eisdorfer and her family had just moved to Toms River within the last month and the crash occurred nearby her home, he said.

The cause of the crash, which happened just a short distance from the entrance to Greenbriar Woodlands, not far from the Toms River-Lakewood border, has not been determined.

A witness told the Patch a first responder, escorted by a police officer, carried the infant from the woods where the crash occurred. Stocco said the baby girl was found in her safety seat when rescuers crawled inside the overturned vehicle and freed her from the seat.

Eisdorfer was pronounced dead at the scene, Stocco said.

The crash happened about 11:15 a.m., Stocco said, when Eisdorfer, who was southbound on New Hampshire in a 2015 Honda, crossed over the center yellow line and left the road near North Maple Avenue. Her vehicle went over the curb and into several trees; a witness said several small pine trees were sheared off by the vehicle, which came to final rest on its side in a water retention basin, Stocco said.

The Lakewood Scoop reported Eisdorfer has three children, and that as soon as Toms River emergency personnel realized she was Jewish, they contacted the Lakewood Township Hatzolah Volunteer First Aid Squad.

Lakewood Committeeman Meir Lichtenstein, a Hatzolah member, praised Toms River and Ocean County authorities for their efforts to respect Orthodox customs in the handling of her death, the site reported.

“I want to thank the Toms River Police Department, The Sheriff’s office, the Medical Examiner’s office, Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, EMS, Monoc, Fire Department and all other agencies for their extreme caring and sensitivity, making a very sad and tragic situation a bit more bearable for a family and a community,” Meir told the website.

New Hampshire Avenue was closed for an hour or so during the initial emergency response, a witness told the Patch. Northbound traffic was being diverted onto Hickory Street, he said, but the road was reopened by 1:30 p.m.

Crews from the Pleasant Plains and Silverton Fire companies as well as Silverton First Aid Squad responded to assist in the rescue, Stocco said.

The crash is being investigated by Detective Randy Petrick, Traffic Officers Adam Koeppen, Steve Schwartz, and Robert Westfall, assisted by detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office as well as the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI division.