|
All contents copyright © Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., 2003, unless specified otherwise. All rights reserved.
IMPORTANT: click here to read the DISCLAIMER |
|||||||||
|
Tragedy at Milepost 104
Two adults lost their lives that day, but as troopers investigated the scene, there was evidence of hope.
By: Trooper Rhonda J. Waldera, Wisconsin State Patrol
(Click here for a glossary of American terminology, for overseas readers)
The phone rang early in the morning on March 7, 2003. I answered, and the voice on the other end said, "Do you want to come to work? There has been a double fatal."
I asked where the accident was, and PCO Chris Kaebisch stated that it was in my own backyard, at Milepost 104 on Interstate 94.
I quickly got dressed and left my residence by about 5:30 A.M. As I pulled out of the driveway, my phone was already ringing. Trooper Sean Berkowitch was at the scene, and he gave me brief information about how a car had gone under a semi, saying that the scene was very graphic. I had a little time to prepare myself before I arrived.
The semi unit was apparently traveling west and lost control on the slippery roads; it went through the median and then jackknifed into the right ditch of the eastbound lanes. A 2000 Honda passed directly under the trailer, getting its entire roof and windshield sheared off. The car stopped about 800 feet down the road in the median area.
I pulled up and started looking at the semi unit. The trailer was partially in the right lane and the rest of it was in the ditch. Jackson County Deputy Mike Tauscher showed me the roof of the car and the marks on the trailer where the car had passed underneath. The coroner, Roger Young, arrived on the scene and all of us proceeded to the car.
Trooper Berkowitch had covered everything up with a blanket to preserve the scene. I removed the blanket and began examining the area. The male victim in the back seat had a personal blanket draping him, which I removed. I then noticed a little blue and pink blanket laying on the back seat. I looked a little closer and found a "sippie" cup stuck in a pocket on the front seat. There was a pair of little blue shoes, a pink Leapfrog pad, and a bag of pull-up training diapers. I also saw a Disney suitcase through a buckle in the trunk lid.
"Where's the child?" I wondered when I was finished with my preliminary investigation. I was told there was a doll found near the semi and the roof of the car, but no one had seen a child.
I asked someone to check the tire and trailer area of the semi for a possible third fatality. We searched for a while, checking the median and ditch areas between the car and the semi. I talked with the coroner, specifically stating, "Maybe we need to find next-of-kin or family to see if a child was possibly dropped off somewhere prior to the accident." I told everyone that we needed to keep the option open that there was still a child out there, until we could prove otherwise.
I then began to conduct my investigation of the car and the area around it. I followed the car tracks back to where the semi had gone through the median, still searching for any signs of a child. Inspectors James Veith and Tim White were on-scene conducting the post-crash investigation, and Trooper Jeremy Foster arrived with the Total Station equipment. Everyone was informed that we were still looking for a small child who might have been in the car.
We all continued searching, still trying to get the accident scene cleared up. The local funeral director arrived on-scene, and Trooper Foster and Trooper Berkowitch assisted him with removal of the deceased while maintaining traffic direction. At the same time, Jackson County Highway Supervisor Don Olson was on the shoulder of the road near the car and spotted a bright colored item on the right shoulder near the interstate fence in some brush. He grabbed Trooper Berkowitch and an EMT, and they rushed down and found a little girl sitting there.
She had on a thin pink jacket, sweat pants and socks. They quickly brought her up to Don Olson's SUV and turned the heat on high. Trooper Berkowitch said she was shaking from the cold and had quickly snuggled into the EMT's arms; she fell asleep before the ambulance arrived. This was approximately three hours after the crash had happened.
Once she was found, Jackson County Deputy Chris Mach found her footprints and followed them across both lanes and back down the median to the front of the car. It appeared that she had fallen several times in the snow. There was no car seat found at the scene, and the evidence showed that she crawled over the trunk to get out of the car. The sides and front were full of very sharp metal and glass from the roof ripping off.
The little girl, two-year-old Anita Kayachith, was transported to the Black River Falls Memorial Hospital and checked for injuries. She had only a small cut on her cheek and no frostbite or other injuries. Both of the girl's parents, 21-year-old Sourvorachak Kayachith and 20-year-old Melinda Athakhanh, died in the crash.
It was a great feeling to have found this little girl, and greater that she was alive without any injuries after such a horrific accident.
Everyone continued to work through the day and over the weekend on the crash. On Monday morning, Lieutenant Darren Price approached Trooper Berkowitch and me. He advised that some of the media had called about the accident and told us to be prepared for some possible interviews. But I never thought it would become as big in the media as it did.
By noon, the calls had already started, and we all spent many hours on the phone. People were calling District 5 and talking with secretaries, with Lieutenant Price, and with Captain King. Many phone calls were being forwarded to the Department of Natural Resources, where our Jackson County troopers have an office. Soon, the DNR secretaries were also taking messages. It was unbelievable. I finally got the chance at about 5:00 P.M. to call my husband, a detective with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, and tell him what was happening.
Tuesday morning, March 11, 2003, started off very early. Trooper Berkowitch and I, still very much in disbelief over all the coverage that this story was getting, were at District 5 headquarters by 3:00 A.M. to make national TV appearances. Lieutenant Price and Captain King were there to try to make things go smoothly. There were camera people, producers, and technical people everywhere. We did interviews with NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good Morning, America, CBS's The Early Show, Fox News, CNN with Connie Chung, the Twin Cities' NBC affiliate, KARE 11, and News Channel 8, the CBS affiliate in LaCrosse. We did several radio station interviews, including Voice of America from Washington, D.C., a station that broadcasts to the country of Laos and was very interested in the story since the little girl's father was Laotian-born.
After 15 hours of interviews, phone calls, and pictures, we were exhausted. It was a day of excitement and nerves. I went home to see my two children and hear all about being on TV from them. I finally had a sense of pride in the job we had all done.
Several times during that day I was referred to as a "hero." I think that there were many heroes in this story, and I happened to be one of them. This tragic incident resulted in a great survival story that impacted the nation.
The state of Wisconsin and all of the nation were able to appreciate us and see the importance of our day-to-day duties and responsibilities. From the most populated areas to the smaller communities, throughout the state of Wisconsin, you will always see and can count on a member of the Wisconsin State Patrol. _________________________________________________________
Our thanks for permission to post this story go to Trooper Rhonda J. Waldera, and the Wisconsin Troopers' Association
EMT Emergency Medical Technician -- a paramedic ambulance officer Hood Bonnet Median Central Reservation Semi Short for a semi tractor-trailer -- an articulated wagon Trunk Boot
Serving and former police officers, EMT's, fire fighters, etc., from any country, are encouraged to submit their true anecdotes about drivers and driving. Click here for details.
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
|