Florida's Turnpike Reopened To Traffic Following Fatal Crash
Thursday, December 11, 2003 – updated: 5:26 pm EST December 11, 2003
GROVELAND, Fla. -- A section of Florida's Turnpike in Lake County reopened Thursday after being closed overnight following a fatal collision between a sports utility vehicle and a truck carrying military explosives.
A 17-mile stretch of the northbound lanes between Winter Garden and Leesburg were opened to traffic at 1:15 p.m., said Christa Deason, a spokeswoman for the turnpike's management. The southbound lanes were reopened three hours earlier after the Air Force cleaned up explosives that were waylaid in the accident as they were being transported by truck from Orlando to Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle on Wednesday night. The fire from a head-on collision set off a ruptured case of blasting caps like "fireworks," witnesses told Florida Highway Patrol investigators. The accident shut down a stretch of toll road that carries on average 30,000 vehicles a day, turnpike spokeswoman Sonyha Rodriguez-Miller said.
Tera Marie Ross (photo left), 22, of Cooper City, was pronounced dead at the scene after the 7:15 p.m. crash at mile marker 278, near the Orange County line.Ross was driving south on the turnpike when she crossed the median and collided with the truck driven by Glen C. Rice, of Rockford, Ill. Rice, and his wife, Janice Rice, were not injured in the collision. Rice drives for FedEx Custom Critical.
Ross' brother, Zachary Ryan Ross, 20, and a friend, 18-year-old Kelly Melissa Raw (photo right), of Oviedo, were passengers in the SUV. They were flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition, investigators said. All three are students at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, where Tera Ross made the Dean's List last spring, according to the school's Web site. University President Bill Meehan said Tera Ross was an excellent student and star athlete. The students had just finished their finals, he said. Tera Ross, a junior, was president of the student athletic association and last week was inducted into the student athlete hall of fame because she had a high grade-point average and excelled in sports. "The entire university community is very saddened by Tera's loss," Meehan said.
Tera Marie Ross (photo left), 22, of Cooper City, was pronounced dead at the scene after the 7:15 p.m. crash at mile marker 278, near the Orange County line.Ross was driving south on the turnpike when she crossed the median and collided with the truck driven by Glen C. Rice, of Rockford, Ill. Rice, and his wife, Janice Rice, were not injured in the collision. Rice drives for FedEx Custom Critical.Ross' brother, Zachary Ryan Ross, 20, and a friend, 18-year-old Kelly Melissa Raw (photo right), of Oviedo, were passengers in the SUV. They were flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition, investigators said. All three are students at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, where Tera Ross made the Dean's List last spring, according to the school's Web site. University President Bill Meehan said Tera Ross was an excellent student and star athlete. The students had just finished their finals, he said. Tera Ross, a junior, was president of the student athletic association and last week was inducted into the student athlete hall of fame because she had a high grade-point average and excelled in sports. "The entire university community is very saddened by Tera's loss," Meehan said. Copyright 2004 by WFTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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