February 5 accident in Kentucky claims two sisters from Waukon

Monday, February 5, at approximately 9:50 a.m., Kentucky State Police responded to a nine-vehicle, double fatality collision located on Interstate 24 at the 80-mile marker near Hopkinsville, KY in Christian County along the southwestern edge of Kentucky and northwest of Nashville, TN. One of those nine vehicles involved in the accident contained a local trio of sisters, two of whom lost their lives from the injuries they sustained in the accident.

The three sisters, 55-year-old Mary Engrav of Waukon, 58-year-old Joan Lyons of Waukon and 61-year-old Barb Winters-Kelly of Waterville, were traveling to Nashville, TN to attend the funeral of a family friend, according to family members. They are the daughters of Janette Ryder-Blong of Waukon.

The accident report from the Kentucky State Police explained that the 2015 Ford F-150 pick-up the sisters were traveling in, owned by Wayne and Barb Winters-Kelly of Waterville and being driven by Engrav, was among several other vehicles stopped in the westbound lanes of Interstate 24 for an accident that had taken place further down that roadway, with traffic being backed up for nearly a mile, according to the report. The pick-up was waiting in the right-hand lane when a 2000 Freightliner tractor and semi-trailer, operated by 39-year-old James Lee of Mulberry, TN, approached the stopped traffic but could not stop in time, first colliding with the rear of the sister-occupied pick-up and pushing it ahead into the rear of a 2016 Freightliner tractor and semi-trailer stopped ahead of it.

As a result of that initial impact, Engrav was pronounced deceased at the scene of the accident by the Christian County Coroner. Lyons, who the report says was occupying the right rear seat of the pick-up, was flown by AirEvac helicopter from the accident scene to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, but also died a short time later as a result of the injuries she sustained in the accident.

The front passenger seat of the pick-up was occupied by Winters-Kelly, and, according to the accident report, she was initially transported by ambulance to Tennova Medical Center in Clarksville, TN for non-life threatening injuries. Family members said she was then airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for further treatment and observation. The Vanderbilt University Medical Center Office of News and Communications did confirm that Winters-Kelly was discharged from the facility Thursday, February 8.

"The tragedy that took two beautiful lives, Joan and Mary, has left us at a loss," the family of the sisters shared in a prepared statement. "We are extremely sad and miss our family members greatly. The community has been outstanding support to us, as they always are when people are in need. Please continue to keep Barb in your prayers as she recovers from her injuries."

A joint funeral service for both Engrav and Lyons was held Tuesday morning, February 13 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon. Full obituaries for both sisters appear on Page 5A of this issue of The Standard.

The accident report further indicates that the 2000 Freightliner that had initially struck the pick-up occupied by the three sisters then swerved into the left westbound lane of travel, further striking a Chevrolet passenger car, a Honda passenger car and a Kia Optima. All three of those vehicle occupants were transported by ambulance to Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville, KY for non-life threatening injuries.

The momentum of those struck vehicles further forced them to continue to collide with other stopped vehicles, striking a Toyota passenger car and another Honda passenger car before another commercial motor vehicle was finally struck, bringing the chain reaction to an end on the other side of an adjacent overpass several dozen feet down the highway. All of the occupants of the vehicles involved in the later chain reaction impact were able to exit their vehicles with the assistance of bystanders prior to the vehicles being fully engulfed by flames caused by the final strikes of the chain reaction contact. The Winters-Kelly pick-up initially struck in the incident was not involved in the fire, but that initial impact between the Lee Freightliner and the pick-up was enough to cause the only two fatalities in the accident. Lee and the occupants of the other two later-involved passenger cars were transported to nearby hospitals by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries. The two drivers of the other two semi tractor trailer combinations were not injured.

Six different area fire departments and four area emergency response teams assisted at the scene of the accident, which closed the interstate for nearly the entire day. The collision remains under investigation by the Kentucky State Police.