COLUMBUS – Four members of a family from Grove City, including two small children, died Monday after a suspected drunk driver going the wrong way on I-77 in West Virginia caused a head-on crash, police said.
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The family was returning from a trip to Disney World, a West Virginia State Police spokesman said.
Dead are: Carlisa Crowell, 29, of Grove City; Maxine Wade, 27, also of Grove City; and two girls, ages 9 and 6, whom police did not name. Police said the girls were members of an extended family. Four other occupants of the same vehicle, ages 27, 8, 4, and 3, were transported to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The head-on crash occurred at about 1:30 a.m. on I-77 north of Ghent, W. Va., which is about 70 miles south of Charleston. Police said they responded to a two-vehicle collision, and a preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of a Dodge Ram Truck, Cory Sheward, 35, of Tiffin, Ohio, crossed the highway’s median, traveled south in the northbound lane for approximately 2 miles, and collided head-on with the family’s Ford Explorer.
“Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor in this crash,” police said.