Father and one-year-old son killed after he allegedly crashes car into Pennsylvania river late at night
A Pennsylvania father and his one-year-old son were tragically killed this past weekend after the car they were traveling in crashed into a river. The mother, who was also traveling in the car at the time, managed to escape the metal trap and swim to safety.
According to the Daily Mail, the bodies of 29-year-old Derek Marshall and his one-year-old son Maddox were recovered from the Susquehanna River at around 3:15 pm on Saturday, March 23, with authorities still unsure as to what caused the accident.
Talking about the incident, police in Bradford County said an Athens Township officer saw a vehicle, believed to have belonged to Marshall, traveling at a high speed — it is still unclear how fast he was speeding — on Friday night.
Just minutes after losing sight of the vehicle, the officer responded to a report of someone's vehicle falling into the Susquehanna River. The Athens Township Police Department was assisted and helped by the Athens Borough and Ulster-Sheshequin Fire departments in searching the area of the crash on Friday night, and then again on Saturday morning before bad weather suspended the searches.
The Tunkhannock Ambulance/Dive Team, the Germania Scuba Team, the Scott Dive Team Specialist and Greater Valley EMSwere were also reportedly roped in since the beginning of the search.
Speaking to WNEP, Allie Campbell of Ulster said that the current of the river was "very strong" and "very hard" at this point of the year. She also explained how the area of the crash was a bustle of activity. "We got up there and there was a whole bunch of search and rescue boats all over the Susquehanna River and there was a lady that was over there telling people that someone went into the river," she said.
A 2007 Honda CVS couple along with the bodies of Marshall and Maddox were recovered on Saturday afternoon, with the Bradford County coroner confirming their identities. The mother, 31-year-old Emily Hoey of Athens, managed to successfully break out of the sinking vehicle and swam to the shore. She was treated at a nearby hospital and is recovering.
Campbell said the deaths were "very sad" and also expressed her shock at the accident taking place in their tightknit community. "It is scary because you don't want to see that and it is so sad," she said. "Everybody knows everybody in a small community."
Athens Township Police are still investigating the crash.