In Feb. 5 IssueBy Greg WellsTimes Journal Managing Editor"I hate that it turned out the way that it did," said Rick Courtney. "But we were afraid it would."
Courtney, whose wife Rhonda is a retired nurse, said that it was moments after the wreck happened had happened that they came upon it Sunday on U.S.-127 at Ky-92.
"There was still smoke coming up from the radiator on the Ford and its horn was blaring," Courtney said.
He said Rhonda went first to the truck, then to the Cadillac where Modine and Eli Stephens were trapped.
"She went over to Mrs. Stephens and kept trying to talk to her and monitored her vital signs," Courtney said. "When the ambulance arrived we moved out of the way-I held the door open as they extracted her."
According to the police report it was about 11:20 a.m. when the Cadillac driven east on Ky-92, also known as Esto Road, by Eli Stephens did not stop at the stop sign.
The report indicates the Ford Explorer Barbara Stapp was driving north on US-127 was unable to stop and the impact sent the Cadillac into the west bound Chevrolet Truck waiting at the stop sign on Ky-92.
Stapp along with the driver of the Chevy, Chris Long, were taken to Russell County Hospital.
The Stephens were also taken there, but Eli was transferred to the University of Louisville Hospital.
"Modine Stephens passed away a short time after her arrival at hospital," Deputy Sheriff David Cain wrote in the report.
