A Boone County woman has died as a result of the injuries she received after being involved in a traffic crash shortly after 9 p.m. Christmas Eve, near Van.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash which led to the death of 23 year old Jennifer Lynn Gibson, of Wharton. She was the only person inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.

According to Sheriff Rodney Miller, Gibson was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier southbound on WV Rt. 85, just south of Van.

Investigators believe that at the time of the crash Gibson was traveling through a curve in the road, lost control of the vehicle and traveled across and off the northbound lane of the road, hitting a utility pole a few feet of the roadway edge.

Investigators believe that speed and wet road conditions may have been factors in the incident and believe that Gibson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, which may have led to some of the severity of her injuries.

Miller said the woman was dead at the scene. The highway was shut down for a brief period while crews from Appalachian Power Company were called to the crash scene to take control of a power transformer which had been knocked loose from the utility pole and was dangling over the crash scene, preventing emergency crews from immediately moving the vehicle or cutting the victim from the wreckage.

After AEP crews made the scene safe Gibson was cut from the vehicle by first responders from the Van Volunteer Fire Department. Her body was then transported from the scene to Handley Funeral Home.

Investigators from the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office were at the scene of the crash. The investigation of the crash is continuing by the Boone County Sheriff's Department and the lead investigator is Deputy E.C. Eversole.