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Texas wreck kills local couple
Two Ridgeway residents die in tractor-trailer crash
This image from the website of KENS 5 TV in San Antonio, Texas, shows the scene of an accident near Dilley, Texas, that killed a local couple. Three tractor-trailers were involved in the wreck. Randy and Regina Stowe of Ridgeway were killed when their vehicle (at right in the image above) burst into flames, said Sgt. Chris McGuairt of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Two tractor-trailer drivers — a husband-and-wife team from Ridgeway — died in a fiery crash Tuesday in Texas.
Randy Stowe, 49, and his wife, Regina Stowe, 45, died after the truck they were in burst into flames, according to Sgt. Chris McGuairt of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The accident occurred around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, McGuairt said. Television station News 4 WOAI reported that the wreck happened at the intersection of Highway 85 and FM 1582 just outside Dilley, Texas.
The Stowes lived on Wagon Trail Road in Ridgeway, according to death notices from Norris Funeral Services.
Preliminary evidence at the scene indicated that Randy Stowe was driving the semi at the time of the crash, McGuairt said.
When the incident began to unfold, McGuairt said, “one truck semi-trailer at the intersection was stopped at a stop sign facing west,” and a second “truck semi-trailer was stopped at a stop sign facing south.”
The first truck — the truck headed west — “had the right of way and proceeded into the intersection,” McGuairt said.
The truck facing south then “was struck from behind” by a third truck, which the Stowes were in, McGuairt said.
Authorities do not know what prompted the Stowes’ vehicle to collide with the stopped truck, McGuairt said. He added that the driver allegedly “failed to control the speed.”
On impact, the truck the Stowes were in “erupted into flames, and the occupants were not able to get out,” McGuairt said.
Authorities contacted the owner of the vehicle the Stowes were in to determine who was inside, said McGuairt, who did not identify the owner.
The crash started a chain reaction, and the semi that had been facing south was pushed forward into the intersection, where it collided with the tractor-trailer that had the right of way and was going through the intersection, McGuairt said.
The speed of the Stowes’ tractor-trailer is not known, McGuairt said.
The incident remains under investigation, he added.
McGuairt said an advanced accident reconstruction team will try to re-create the incident to determine what happened, but it may be “days or weeks” before that process is complete.
The drivers of the other trucks also were injured, McGuairt said. One has chest and back pain, and another has chest and rib pain, McGuairt said. He noted that both were in stable condition Wednesday.
No charges were filed in connection with the incident, he said.
The crash occurred less than 100 miles from Laredo, Texas, which was the Stowes’ destination, McGuairt said.
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