The investigation continues into last night’s fatal crash in Port Charlotte.
The highway patrol says it involved a motorcycle on Veterans Boulevard at Norman Street.
The troopers claim the bike had two people on it when it slowed eastbound to make a right turn.
They believe an SUV rear-ended them, tossing both of them from the bike.
The patrol says a woman on the bike died at Bayfront Hospital. It has not released her name.
Troopers, though, have identified the bike’s driver as 66-year-old Gerald Merando, Jr. of Port Charlotte. He went to Lee Memorial in serious condition.
Neither one of them wore a helmet.
The patrol has not charged the driver of the SUV at this time.