CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Police still had no answers Wednesday about why a former Sissonville homecoming queen and class president died Wednesday evening after falling from a moving sport-utility vehicle.

Shana Cowley, 22, died from injuries sustained when she fell to the road from the front passenger's seat of her friend's SUV, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

The pair was driving to Cowley's home on Derricks Creek Road in Sissonville about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Crosier said. "We're looking into the how and/or why it happened," he said.

After Cowley fell from the vehicle, the friend went back to her and called for help, he said. Cowley was conscious and was taken to CAMC General Hospital, where she died later Wednesday evening.

Deputies have not identified Cowley's friend, or said if the friend is male or female. Crosier said the friend was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and he has no reason to believe Cowley was either.

Crosier said he believes the two were coming from West Virginia State University in Institute. Cowley was a senior there, majoring in chemistry and pre-medicine, said WVSU spokeswoman Patricia Dickinson.

Cowley also attended West Virginia University, majoring in exercise physiology and dentistry, but had shifted her focus to chiropractory, according to her page on Facebook, a social networking Web site.

She graduated from Sissonville High School in 2005, where she was senior class president, homecoming queen, head cheerleader and a softball player. She was named in Who's Who Among America's High Schools and Who's Who Among America's High School Athletes.

She was also the reigning Miss South Charleston.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Police still had no answers Wednesday about why a former Sissonville homecoming queen and class president died Wednesday evening after falling from a moving sport-utility vehicle.

Shana Cowley, 22, died from injuries sustained when she fell to the road from the front passenger's seat of her friend's SUV, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

The pair was driving to Cowley's home on Derricks Creek Road in Sissonville about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Crosier said. "We're looking into the how and/or why it happened," he said.

After Cowley fell from the vehicle, the friend went back to her and called for help, he said. Cowley was conscious and was taken to CAMC General Hospital, where she died later Wednesday evening.

Deputies have not identified Cowley's friend, or said if the friend is male or female. Crosier said the friend was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and he has no reason to believe Cowley was either.

Crosier said he believes the two were coming from West Virginia State University in Institute. Cowley was a senior there, majoring in chemistry and pre-medicine, said WVSU spokeswoman Patricia Dickinson.

Cowley also attended West Virginia University, majoring in exercise physiology and dentistry, but had shifted her focus to chiropractory, according to her page on Facebook, a social networking Web site.

She graduated from Sissonville High School in 2005, where she was senior class president, homecoming queen, head cheerleader and a softball player. She was named in Who's Who Among America's High Schools and Who's Who Among America's High School Athletes.

She was also the reigning Miss South Charleston.

"She was a really outgoing person and genuine inside and out," said Bob Anderson, executive director of the South Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau. "My heart goes out to the family. It's a great loss to the family and to the South Charleston community."

In 2005, Cowley competed in the 25th Annual America's Homecoming Queen pageant at Disneyland in California. She had won the homecoming queen crown at the state level earlier that year, according to past Gazette articles.

"She was a Miss Indian ... a cheerleader, a very popular student and a good academic student," Sissonville Principal Calvin McKinney said. "She was a beautiful young lady both inside and out, just a friend of everybody.

"She was just a vivacious young lady, just a pleasure to be around, very helpful to everyone," he said. "She is somebody you would like your daughter to be like."

The high school had a moment of silence Thursday morning for Cowley and for four other former Sissonville students who died in the last week, McKinney said.

Cowley is the daughter of Paul and Leetta Beachum of Sissonville and Shane Cowley of Virginia.

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