Information sought
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officials are seeking information regarding the driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident that happened about 3 p.m. CDT last Sunday on Schwaiger Road in Good Hope, Ala. The collision claimed the life of 75-year-old Helen Virginia Duke, of Cullman, Ala. ALEA officials said anyone with information regarding the vehicle — believed to be some kind of Ford with possible damage to the passenger side rear-view mirror — or driver involved should call the agency’s Decatur post at 256-353-0631.
State patrol officers in North Alabama in the last five days have investigated a half dozen fatal crashes, including a hit-and-run collision that killed a 75-year-old pedestrian, two motorcycle crashes that left two dead and another that fatally injured a 17-year-old boy.
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency spokesman Curtis Summerville said 75-year-old pedestrian Helen Virginia Duke, of Cullman, was killed Sunday just inside Good Hope, Ala., when she was hit by a vehicle that remains at large, according to a statement from the agency. Troopers were notified of the incident on Schwaiger Road about 3:10 p.m. CDT Sunday.
Troopers are looking for an unknown Ford vehicle with damage to the passenger-side mirror, Summerville said.
Nearest Chattanooga in DeKalb County, 77-year-old Huntsville resident Billy Ray Stanfill was killed on Alabama Highway 117 when his 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle overturned and ejected him around 12:50 p.m. CDT on Sunday. The single-vehicle crash happened around the 10-mile marker on Highway 117, inside the Hammondville city limits, Summerville said.
A Decatur teen died Sunday from injuries stemming from a single-car crash around 11 p.m. CDT Friday in Limestone County on U.S. Highway 31, Summerville said. The teen was not wearing a seat belt when he was ejected from his vehicle after it left the road and struck a ditch and overturned.
Another motorcycle crash victim died Saturday from injuries sustained May 11. That crash claimed the life of 79-year-old Falls Church, Va., resident Kendall Jerome Girard, whose 2014 Honda motorcycle left the road and struck a guardrail on Interstate 59 about 5 miles north of Gadsden, authorities said.
A fiery two-car crash Sunday evening claimed one life and injured two other people in Blount County after an unidentified man was killed when the 2000 Dodge he was driving collided head-on with a 2002 Volkswagen and caught fire, Summerville said. The driver of the Dodge was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Volkswagen and a minor passenger in that car were treated for injuries. None of the victims' identities were released.
Preliminary findings in an ongoing investigation suggest alcohol might have been a factor in the accident, Summerville said.
A three-car crash Sunday in Madison County killed 90-year-old Huntsville resident Rina Tomasi Wortham when her 2016 Toyota struck two other vehicles on U.S. 231 north of Huntsville. There was no indication in Alabama Law Enforcement Agency statements that any other drivers or passengers were injured in the crash.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6569.