Former Carthage resident killed in Oklahoma crash
A former area resident and 1971 graduate of Carthage High School and her family were among those killed in June 26 crash on I-44 in Ottawa County, Okla., that left 10 people dead.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Cynthia Olson, 55, Crossroads, Texas; her daughter, Shelby Hayes, 35, of Frisco, Texas; her husband, Randall Hayes, 38; their son, Ethan Hayes, 7 were among those killed in the crash that happened when a tractor trailer plowed into the back of a line of vehicles stopped because of an earlier accident.
Alisha Harrison, with Housh-Goodwin Funeral Home in Sarcoxie, said Olson and her family were coming to Sarcoxie for the funeral of Olson’s grandfather, Glen Levi Wooten, Sarcoxie, who died at age 102.
She said services for Olson are pending with Housh-Goodwin Funeral Home.
According to the 1971 Carthage High School yearbook, Olson was the Military Ball queen, a member of DECA and the ROTC and Drill Team sponsor.
Joplin Attorney Cobb Young, a classmate of Olson’s in the Class of 1971, said he kept in touch with her for a time after she moved to Texas. He said he knew her fairly well, although the two had not talked recently.
“She was a positive, outgoing and very caring person,” Young said. “I also think she was a hardworking and industrious person. She will be missed.”
Young said Olson didn’t make it to every class reunion, but she came to many of them and was well-liked in the class.
Olson was a widow.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is investigating why the driver of a tractor trailer, Donald Creed, 76, Ash Grove, didn’t slow down before hitting the line of cars that were stopped in the road for another accident.
Capt. Craig Medcalf, who leads the patrol's Motor Carrier Enforcement Division, said the assessment was based on an examination of the big rig's brake pads, which he said appeared to be in good condition. Medcalf said the damage to the undercarriage of the tractor was so extensive that troopers couldn't test the performance of the brakes.
Medcalf said the tractor was a 2009 model and the trailer was a 2008 model.
"The indications from troopers was that everything was in proper working order," Medcalf said. "There really was not an indication there was anything mechanically wrong."
Prosecutors have said Creed could face misdemeanor negligent homicide charges.
Tina Freeman, a spokeswoman for Freeman Health Systems, said Creed was treated at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, for injuries sustained in the crash and released on Saturday.
A seven-person team from the National Transportation Safety Board has joined local Highway Patrol investigators looking into the accident. While it's unusual for the NTSB to investigate highway accidents, spokeswoman Bridge Serchak said, the scope of the Oklahoma crash likely resulted in the decision to do so.
Serchak said the federal investigators will work with the turnpike authority and highway engineers looking at roadway design plans, profiles and accident statistics; document the tractor-trailer and some of the passenger vehicles involved in the accident; examine other vehicles from the accident to look at survivable space; examine human performance; and document company and driver records.
She said investigators want to interview Creed, but that those plans have not been confirmed. She said it's likely members of the NTSB will remain in Oklahoma through the upcoming holiday weekend.
Creed was driving a truck for Kansas City, Kan.-based Associated Wholesale Grocers. Steve Dillard, the company's vice president for corporate sales development, did not return a phone message left at his office Tuesday.
In a three-sentence statement Monday, the company expressed condolences to the families of those killed and injured and said it was working with authorities.
Other victims included Oral Hooks, 69, Earlene Hooks, 63, Antonio Hooks, 42, and Dione Hooks, 41, all of Oklahoma City; and Ricardo Reyes, 39, and Ernestia Reyes, both of Phoenix. The Reyes' 12-year-old daughter, Andrea, was injured in the crash.
Missouri authorities have said Creed had a clean driving record and had his commercial driver's license renewed in April. He initially obtained the CDL in 1991.
The accident was not the deadliest ever on an Oklahoma highway. In 1974, a large grass fire along Interstate 40 between El Reno and Oklahoma resulted in 13 fatalities, retired patrol Trooper S.T. Bolding said.
Editor’s Note: The Associated Press and Carthage Press Staff Writer Alexandra Nicolas contributed to this report.
