Police officials in northern Texas said that body of an elderly woman was found at the side of a north Texas road after it fell from the back window of the mortuary van that was carrying it to a medical research lab.

The mortuary van was carrying the body of Nell Joseph and was heading towards a Science Care facility in Colorado on Tuesday. On the way, a rear window of the van broke and the cadaver slipped out of the van and fell on the highway.

The van driver was unaware that the body has fallen from the van, said police in Denton, north of Dallas. The body was later found by an officer who was out on his routine patrol. The officer said he saw the black body bag with Joseph’s remains packed in medical-grade ice.

The driver of the vehicle transporting Joseph's body told authorities that he didn't realize the body had crashed through the back window of the van. Police officials, in a statement, said that the mortuary van’s cargo and passenger areas are separated by a metal barrier, which could have prevented the driver from noticing that the cadaver has fallen from the van.

Joseph’s family members told local broadcaster WFAA-TV that she died from lung disease in a Fort Worth hospital on Thanksgiving Day. Her remains were donated for the study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, they said.

Melinda Ellsworth, a spokeswoman for Science Care, said in a statement that the van was carrying multiple donors, but only Joseph’s body fell off the vehicle. She also revealed that the care has suspended services with the transportation provider.