Woman found dead was mother of four

Even though 29-year-old Jena Higgins only worked at Dena's Diner in Green Township for two weeks before she was found dead in an abandoned car, the diner's owner said it felt like "we lost a member of the family."

Dena Stein, the owner, vividly remembers Higgins' "bubbly" attitude about her new job.

"I'm a tough one to work for," Stein said. "(But Higgins) cared. She got upset when she made a mistake – she didn't blow it off, she fixed it. She tried so hard."

Higgins, of Colerain Township, was the mother of four young boys, Stein said.

"The last picture I seen Friday night was that her sister or baby sitter was giving one of her youngest boys a mohawk haircut. She was saying, 'I can't believe they are giving him a haircut like that.' She adored the boys," Stein said.

Higgins went missing Sunday. She was found dead Monday in a car abandoned after a crash in Whitewater Township.

Alcohol or drugs are believed to be a factor in the single-vehicle crash, Hamilton County officials said.

Higgins was the passenger in the car, said Sgt. Michael Tarr of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.The driver has not been found, Tarr said.

The vehicle was traveling westbound on Cilley Road at a high rate of speed when it entered a curve and its driver lost control. The vehicle struck two trees and a utility pole. The collision with the utility pole caused the front portion of the vehicle to break away from the rest of the car.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Traffic Safety Unit is investigating the crash.