New Jersey woman trying to nap in her car between working four jobs dies of fume inhalation

Maria Fernandes, 32, of Newark, was allegedly overcome by mixture of carbon monoxide and fumes from an overturned gas can

Fernandes kept extra gas in the car because she sometimes ran out

Police say it appears she just pulled over for a nap as she desperately tried to make ends meet

A New Jersey woman who worked four jobs died while apparently napping in her car.

Elizabeth police say it appears 32-year-old Maria Fernandes of Newark was overcome by a deadly mixture of carbon monoxide and fumes from an overturned gasoline container.

She kept the extra gas in her 2001 Kia Sportage because occasionally she ran out of gas, authorities said.

Maria Fernandes of Newark was overcome by a deadly mixture of carbon monoxide and fumes from an overturned gasoline container while trying to rest between one of her four jobs

Lt. Daniel Saulnier tells The Star-Ledger of Newark it sounds like someone who tried desperately to work and make ends meet and met with a tragic accident.

She worked four jobs, including two shifts at separate Dunkin Donuts.



Saulnier says an autopsy failed to determine the cause of death and police are awaiting toxicology test results.



No foul play is suspected.



Police believe Fernandes pulled over for a nap in a parking lot early Monday.

The Star-Ledger reports she often drove from job to job and caught a few hours sleep on the road between.



She apparently left the car running while she tried to rest.



Police were called later that afternoon.

She was found with the windows and the doors to the vehicle shut, and when emergency workers burst in they reported a chemical odor.



Hazmat was called to the scene upon determining Fernandes was dead.

Miss Fernandes was found near this Wawa shop with her car's engine still running and a strong chemical odor filling the air

The Star-Ledger notes that Fernandes was only of tens of thousands of New Jersey workers employed at multiple jobs.



'These are folks who would like to work full-time but they can't find jobs,' Carl Van Horn, director of John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, told reporters. 'They wind up in these circumstances in which they are exhausted. More commonly it creates just an enormous amount of stress.'

At least 7.5 million people nationwide are working multiple jobs, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.



For those who lost their jobs in the recession of 2008, many now working multiple positions still make less than their full-time wages and with little or no benefits.



'The average person who lost their job took a 10 per cent pay cut, (after returning to the workforce),' Van Horn said.

















