Woman found dead in Nelson County woods after son crashed her car in same area on Christmas

NELSON COUNTY, Ky. (WAVE) – The woman whose body was found a field in Nelson County has been identified.

Two hunters found the woman’s body, lying face down, just off Sullivan Lane in Bardstown around 5 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.

Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiora said at a news conference Friday that the woman is Mary Teresa Ball, 43, of Bardstown.

Pineiora said Ball’s cause of death has not been determined, though an autopsy conducted Friday morning found no signs of blunt trauma.

“She was not shot,” Pineiora said of Ball’s body, which was found “a good 200 feet from (the nearest) road.”

Pineiora added that Ball’s son was involved in a single-vehicle crash in that area just the day before, which was Christmas. That crash took place “300-500 yards from where (Ball’s) body was found," Pineiora said.

Ball was the owner of the vehicle, but police said her son told them he was the only one inside when it crashed. According to Pineiora, the son told investigators he had dropped his mother off at Huddle House before the accident.

He has not been arrested or named a suspect in his mother’s death.

“We still have to do a search warrant on the vehicle and process the vehicle and see if she was in the vehicle in that time frame,” Pineiora said.

Pineiora said Ball did not have identification on her. One of her shoes was off and found near her body.

He said Investigators detected footprints in the wooded area near where the crash happened on longtime resident Lou Downs’ property. He said he was among the first neighbors to respond when Ball’s body was discovered.

“I didn’t know what to think just wondering where she came from, at first nobody related the accident from the day before,” Downs said.

He said he had an odd interaction with Ball’s son after the crash on his property.

“He was actually standing in the creek when I got there," Downs said. “He had gotten out of the car and was standing in the creek.”

His encounter with the one person who might have some of the answers about what happened to Ball continues to run through his mind.

“There’s a lot of theories out there I’ve thought about different things,” Downs said. “I’m sure this is going to be a Christmas that the family will never forget. So, I just hope someway something good will come out of it. At least they’ll realize or find out what did happen.”

Toxicology results are pending on Ball as the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate her death.

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