BACLIFF — Two questions haunted an investigation Wednesday into a deadly incident the previous night — who was the dead woman, and why did she lie down in the middle of West Bayshore Drive?

The woman was standing alongside the road in the 4700 block of West Bayshore shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, trying to flag down a ride, witnesses told sheriff’s deputies.

A car stopped but, as it backed toward her, the woman ran into the middle of the roadway and lay down. She gave no warning, nor did she say why she was doing it.

Seconds later, a Ford Ranger pickup ran her over.

“The driver apparently was distracted by all the lights and activity going on around the woman, because a couple of other vehicles had stopped,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo. “She didn’t see the woman until it was too late.”

He said the driver would face no charges.

Both Tuttoilmondo and Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesman John Florence asked for the public’s help in finding who the woman was. She carried no identification.

She was described as being in her late 40s, about 5-feet, 2-inches tall and 120 pounds, with graying blonde hair. She was wearing a gray tank top shirt reading “Butterfly Couture,” jeans and pink cowboy boots.

Anyone with information on her identity can call the sheriff’s office, at 409-766-2322, or the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office, at 409-935-9274.