A Carlisle fire policeman directs traffic rerouted through the downtown after the 1 p.m. Friday three-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 that took the lives of three Lebanon Valley College students. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)

3rd victim named in fatal crash

By Linda Franz, November 23, 2003

Last updated: Sunday, November 23, 2003 11:45 AM EST

The name of the third victim killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 in Middlesex Township has been released as well as the name of a fourth passenger who was critically injured.

Mariko Furukawa, 20, of Kagoshima, Japan, was pronounced dead at the scene. Furukawa was a passenger in a vehicle operated by Chelsey Morris, 19, of Perry Street in Enola. Morris and Michael Videtto, 21, of Aldan, Delaware County, also were all pronounced dead at the scene.

Janice Goddard, 19, of Camp Hill, was flown to Hershey Medical Center by Life Lion helicopter.

She was reported in critical condition on Saturday.

All four were students at Lebanon Valley College and members of the college Tae Kwan Do club. They were on their way to the third annual Tae Kwan Do championship in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to a news release college president G. David Pollick posted on the college website.

According to state police, the crash occurred as the 2001 Toyota that Morris was driving southbound on Interstate 81 crossed the median into the northbound lanes of traffic. Police say the Morris vehicle drove in front of a tractor-trailer driven by Donald Gotwalt, 65, of Etters.

Gotwalt swerved to the right, police say, and into a tractor-trailer driven by Wayne Wise Jr., of Red Lion.

Gotwalt's tractor-trailer and the Morris vehicle collided. The tractor-trailer ended up in the median and the car came to rest in the northbound lanes. The tractor-trailer driven by Wise traveled off the side of the roadway and fell onto its passenger side, police say.

Gotwalt was taken by ambulance to Carlisle Regional Medical Center. A hospital representative refused to give any information on his condition Saturday.

Wise was transported to York Hospital after initially refusing medical treatment at the scene, police say.

The crash, between the I-81 Middlesex exit and the High Street exit, snarled traffic in Carlisle for hours. Northbound lanes were closed for hours and traffic was routed through Carlisle. One lane reopened about 4:30 p.m. and both were reopened about 9:10 p.m.

Morris, a sophomore political science major, was a member of the college's swim team and its History and Political Science Club. She was a graduate of East Pennsboro High School.

Videtto, a senior music recording technology major, was vice president of the student-run Tae Kwan Do Club. Furukawa, a sophomore chemistry major, was a member of the chemistry department's summer research team.

Lebanon Valley College will hold a memorial service for the students after each family has determined its respective memorial plans, President G. David Pollick said on the college's web site Saturday. In addition, counselors will be available in the college's chapel.

Deer causes another accident

State police in Carlisle say two people were transported by Life Lion to Hershey Medical Center after a car collided with a deer near mile marker 30.5 on I-81 about 2:17 a.m. Saturday.

Both the driver of the vehicle, Aneta M. Kelsen, 21, and a passenger, Matthew Fuhs, 22, both of Schwenksville, were seriously injured, say police. Fuhs was listed in critical condition Saturday night. Personnel at Hershey Medical did not have a listing for Kelsen.

After the 1997 Subaru hit the deer, it hit a guard rail on the left side of the interstate and flipped onto its roof, police say.

Also responding to the scene were fire companies from Shippensburg and Newville, Shippensburg and West Shore rescue personnel and Cumberland Valley EMS. Shippensburg Fire Police directed traffic until the accident was cleared.

Deadly stretch

The deadly toll of victims killed in crashes on Interstate 81 in Cumberland County climbed to 11 for the year.

Last month two men were killed in a wreck similar to Friday's crash. The three-vehicle collision Oct. 20 killed Virginia motorists Edwin Warinner, 75, and Charles Goodykoontz Jr., 74, both of Richmond.

Police say the pair died when their southbound car crossed the median strip between the Fayette and King Street exits in Shippensburg and collided with a northbound tractor trailer.

Just three days earlier, Stephen Craig Reeves, 38, of East Pennsboro Township, died of multiple trauma after police say his pickup left I-81 at the exit to Route 15, struck a bridge and fell into the Norfolk Southern rail yard, where it caught on fire.

A total of five people died in two July crashes along Interstate 81. Alfredo Devita, 19, Carlisle, died Aug. 15 at Hershey Medical Center from injuries suffered in one-vehicle crash July 12. Police say the vehicle driven by Devita lost control and rolled several times. Three passengers suffered minor injuries.

A man and his two sons from Mt. Vernon, N. Y., were killed outright in a two-vehicle accident July 18 on I-81 in Silver Spring Township. Horace Wilson and his sons, Darren and Shane were killed when their car collided with a tractor-trailer hauling refuse. A 17-year-old passenger in the Wilson vehicle died three days later at Hershey Medical Center.

According to figures from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 17 people were killed in crashes on Interstate 81 in Cumberland County during the five years from 1996 through 2000. Four people lost their lives in 2002.

FYI

State police, Carlisle, are interested in talking with anyone who may have witnessed the fatal crash on Interstate 81 shortly before 1 p.m. Friday in Middlesex Township. Police say a yellow utility-style truck with tool boxes along the cargo bed and carrying gas cylinders was in the area and may have witnessed the crash. Police urge the occupants of the truck or any other potential witnesses to contact them at 249-2121.