North Carolina

2 women have died, 4 children hospitalized after NC head-on wreck, trooper says

Two women died and four children were hospitalized after a head-on wreck in Caldwell County on Friday, a State Highway Patrol Trooper said.

A van driver crossed the center line on four-lane U.S. 64 near Beecher Anderson Road and hit a woman driving a minivan with the children inside at about 4 p.m., Master Trooper Christoper Casey said Saturday.

Casey identified the van driver as 41-year-old Lenoir resident Deanna Lynn Ross and the minivan driver as 29-year-old Reyna Mendoza of Valdese. Both died at Caldwell Memorial Hospital, the trooper said.

The children were taken to hospitals, Casey said. Their conditions and the extent of their injuries were unavailable Saturday.

Ross wasn’t wearing a seat belt at the time, Casey said. It wasn’t immediately known why she veered across the center line.

The wreck closed U.S. 64 for about an hour, the trooper said.

Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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