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The driver of the Jeep also left her teenage passenger critically hurt in Sunday's head-on crash in Princeton.
Jodi Marcou, 61, of the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, and the teen driver of the Jeep were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Princeton police. The girl's name was not released.
The 14-year-old passenger in the Jeep was in critical condition at Capital Health Regional Medical Center. He also is from Newark.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Marcou had worked as a development specialist at Rutgers University since 2018.
She previously was program coordinator of the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival. She was a 1980 graduate of Rider University, with a degree in management and organizational behavior.
A tragic series of events began about 12:40 p.m. with a report of an attempted theft of a car parked off the 100 block of Clover Lane in Princeton, police said. The resident reported seeing three people flee in a Jeep Grand Cherokee after trying to steal a car, police said.
Minutes later, the Grand Cherokee was spotted heading west on Clover Lane followed by a Land Rover that had just been stolen from a residence on Dodds Lane, police said. The officer investigating the initial attempted theft began following the Land Rover while the Grand Cherokee fled in another direction, police said.
The Range Rover was later found abandoned in Newark.
Authorities received a report of a motor vehicle crash at 1:09 p.m on Princeton-Kingston Road in the area of Carnegie Drive involving the Jeep, which had previously been reported stolen from Pequannock in Morris County, police said.
Police said the Jeep was headed east on Princeton-Kingston Road when the 15-year-old driver crossed over the double yellow line and struck a westbound 2016 Acura RDX driven by Marcou.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information is urged to call Princeton Sgt. Thomas Murray at 609-921-2100 ext. 1879.
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