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The girlfriend of a man whose body was found off Interstate 95 in Petersburg about 44 hours after the woman crashed while being pursued by police has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in his death.

Chiquita Pettaway, 34, of Petersburg, surrendered to police Thursday and was served with a warrant charging her with manslaughter in the death of Michael D. Jones, who unbeknownst to police had been inside the vehicle when it crashed Tuesday. Pettaway had told officers after Tuesday’s crash that there were no other occupants in her Chevrolet Suburban.

It wasn’t until after the family of Jones, 30, notified authorities about 8 p.m. Wednesday that Jones was missing, and may have been with Pettaway, that police returned to the crash site and found his body. Jones had been thrown from the vehicle after it flipped several times off I-95 and Graham Road.

When Jones was ejected, his body was thrown 30 to 40 yards from the vehicle, beyond a ramp that leads from Crater Road to U.S. 460 and over a 6-foot hedge of bushes, and into a tall grass and swampy area, said Petersburg police Capt. Brian Braswell.

“It’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in 25 years,” Braswell said.