Woman killed when tree falls on van

By Carlos Santos

Published: January 2, 2009

A 52-year-old woman, riding with her family in a van in Sussex County, was killed Wednesday when high winds toppled a dead pine tree onto the passing vehicle's roof, Virginia State Police said yesterday.

Linda I. Edwards of Gatesville, N.C., was a front-seat passenger in the van when a section of the tree crushed the roof above her, trooper M.A. Wrenn said. The van was headed south on state Route 35.

Wrenn said Edwards died of massive head trauma. Her husband, David S. Edwards, the driver of the van, was slightly injured. Their two sons riding in the back of the van were unhurt.

"They were driving down the road doing nothing wrong," Wrenn said. "It was a big tree trunk. Talk about bad timing."

The accident happened around 1:40 p.m. Linda Edwards died a short time later at Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg.

Wrenn said the family was returning home from Maryland when the accident occurred.

Edwards was one of 807 road fatalities in Virginia in 2008, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by state police. There were 1,026 roadway deaths in 2007.

Also Wednesday, Patrick T. Kay, 18, of Daleville was killed when his car ran off the road, struck some trees and caught fire about 12:30 a.m. Kay, who police said was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected. He died at the scene of the crash on U.S. 11 in Botetourt County.

On Tuesday, Gregory M. Dotson, 17, of Grundy was killed in Buchanan County when his vehicle ran off state Route 651, overturned four times and ejected him around 10 p.m. He died a short time later at Buchanan General Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

The first highway fatality of the year in Virginia happened about 3:30 a.m. yesterday in Pittsylvania County when Bryant D. Moran, 21, of Gretna ran off Emory Road just east of Green Bay Road and hit an embankment.

His vehicle rolled once and landed on top of him. Moran died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.
Contact Carlos Santos at (434) 295-9542 or