On November 21 at 9:09 PM Marion County Combined Dispatch received a 911 call. Dispatch could not make out what was being said other than screams in the background and after about 2 minutes the line went dead. The GPS of the call placed it around Whetstone River Rd and Roberts Rd. Deputies were dispatched to the area. 2 more 911 calls came into dispatch, and they were able to determine that they were from occupants of a vehicle that had wrecked and became submerged in water. Deputies and Firefighters from First Consolidated Fire began searching the area and located the vehicle submerged in a pond near the intersection of Whetstone River Rd and Roberts Rd. with only the roof showing out of the water.
A firefighter from First Consolidated used a paddleboard that had been on the shore to go out to the van and crawled on top of it. He was able to use a baseball bat to shatter one of the windows on the van to try to extricate the people from the van. Deputies on the scene also entered the water and assisted him in removing 3 victims from the vehicle. A chain was attached to the vehicle and a fire department vehicle was used to pull the vehicle closer to the shore at which time the remaining 2 victims could be reached and taken out of the vehicle. A total of 5 victims, an adult female and 4 children aged 9,7,4 and 2 were taken out of the vehicle and immediate life saving measures were administered at the scene by emergency personnel. The victims were transported to Marion General Hospital and 4 of the 5 were Life Flighted to Columbus area hospitals. Tragically, the 2 and 4-year-old victims did not survive.
“This is an unthinkable tragedy that happened last night” stated Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles,” it is every first responder’s nightmare scenario when they pull up on a scene such as this one.”
Bayles went on to praise the first responders on scene, “Lt. Brian Stafford and Chief Clint Canterbury of First Consolidated, Deputies Jarrod Kidwell and Jacob Johnson and Lt. Arick Miller of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, without their bravery of going into the icy waters to get these people out, this would have ended with all 5 having perished” “The medics and firefighters on scene and the doctors and nurses at Marion General Hospital that worked feverishly on these victims, their work and dedication were outstanding” “Our dispatchers worked hard to find out where the victims were and tried to communicate with them on the 911 calls. To be on the other end of the line and feeling helpless is a horrible feeling. Our dispatchers are second to none.”
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is handling the crash investigation and other agencies assisting were Pleasant Township Fire, Marion Township Fire and EMS. Fort Morrow Fire, Precision Towing and Ron’s Towing
Marion County Sheriff, Matt Bayles