Centre County woman dies after Route 45 crash, years of mental health struggles, father says
.jpeg "Elizabeth Potalivo, of Spring Mills, died Friday morning from a car crash Thursday.")
Elizabeth Potalivo, 36, of Spring Mills, was once known for her infectious personality — the kind of person who could stroll into a roomful of 20 people and walk out with 20 new friends.
She was pronounced dead at 5:52 a.m. Friday at UPMC Williamsport after being involved in a single-vehicle crash.
“I never fully understood the phrase that parents should never outlive their children, and now I fully get it,” Elizabeth’s father, Chris Potalivo, said. “That sense of emptiness right now is just profound.”
Elizabeth died as a result of a high-speed crash Thursday on Route 45 in Potter Township that saw her cross into the oncoming lane of traffic and hit a cattle fence, according to a report from state police at Rockview. She continued through a field, and her SUV became airborne for about 40 yards. She was then flown by helicopter to Williamsport’s hospital. She was not wearing her seat belt.
Elizabeth’s father, Chris Potalivo, doesn’t dispute any of that. But he also said that’s not the entire story — and he’d prefer the community know, both to dispel rumors and so it might encourage other families with loved ones facing drug and mental health issues to get help.
To be sure, the Potalivo family still treasures memories of Elizabeth growing up — the way she effortlessly earned straight As at State High and the one time she and her sister giggled wildly while steering their sideways-sinking pontoon back to the dock at Raystown Lake. But then there are darker memories, such as the five trips to rehab and the 2-3 stints in jail.
“Do I think this was suicide?” Chris asked. “I do, whether she got in that car intentionally to kill herself or whether she was at that breaking point where she wanted it over. Because everything she did in that vehicle (like the unbuckled seat belt) was so unlike her.”
Chris didn’t know where to turn, about 10 years ago, when Elizabeth first sank into a depression and then turned to alcohol and, later, drugs (i.e. huffing). He wished then he would’ve marched to the relevant county office — the Centre County Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities/Early Intervention and Drug & Alcohol Office at 3500 E. College Ave., State College — and asked for help. He wonders if Elizabeth’s ending might be any different.
But, a decade ago, when all this started, Chris and his wife were still trying to figure everything out. Elizabeth was a bright pre-med student at Penn State until a different car crash threw her from a vehicle.
Miraculously, she didn’t break any bones. But, after two MRIs, doctors realized she suffered permanent brain damage. She kept forgetting things. One doctor even said she’d never graduate college, Chris recalled. But Elizabeth wasn’t one to take no for an answer. After all, when Elizabeth volunteered to be the Gingerbread Man in a kindergarten school play, she refused to accept the teacher’s reasoning that the star should be a boy.
That mindset never changed. So Elizabeth transferred to the University of Colorado, found the “easiest major” she could there (Modern Egyptian History) and graduated. She interned as a regional representative at Budweiser, and they hired her full time. She only needed to pass a drug test. But because she took marijuana — legal in Colorado, but not in all the states she’d represent — she was terminated. She spiraled, her father said. Six months later, she was homeless and Chris retrieved her and brought her home to Centre County.
She was never the same. On Thursday, the day of the most recent crash, Chris said his daughter confided to her aunt that she needed help. They were on their way to a psychiatric center for that help, when Elizabeth found an aerosol can in the backseat and began huffing it.
Knowing no center would admit someone who was high, Elizabeth’s aunt turned around. They could try the next day. But, unbeknownst to the aunt, according to Chris, Elizabeth then took the vehicle.
Less than 24 hours later, a Lycoming County coroner would rule she died from “accidental and multiple blunt force contact.” Results from a toxicology test — which is standard in fatal crashes like this — have not yet been returned.
Inspired by his daughter’s struggles, Chris is currently the chairman on the Centre County Mental Health & Intellectual Disabilities Advisory Board. He believes the state needs to overhaul its mental health system, and Centre County needs improved mental health facilities. He still laments when a local psychiatric center once essentially released his daughter on her own at 1 a.m. and how Elizabeth was referred to a specific transition program — but one that was available only in the Altoona area, and Elizabeth didn’t want to restart her life elsewhere.
“I don’t think mental health experts in this community let her down. I feel the mental health program in this state is crewed by an incredibly competent crew and a poorly designed ship,” he said, likening Pennsylvania’s mental health system to the Titanic. “And no matter what the crew did, the ship was going down — because the design was flawed.”
Chris wants to make a difference to ensure another family doesn’t have to experience this kind of pain. He several times alluded to the death of Osaze Osagie, a State College man who was killed by police while serving a mental health warrant, and said more must be done.
Elizabeth’s life might be over, he intimated, but that doesn’t mean her story has to be.
For families impacted by a loved one’s drinking, Al-Anon Family Groups at al-anon.org is a national organization that provides mutual aid. ... Centre County also provides an online Guide to Mental Health Services to help navigate all the available services. ... And, for those in crisis, immediate help is available 24/7 by calling 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
This story was originally published January 12, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
