Dateline: January 5, 2006

Accident causes three fatalities in one family

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Three people lost their lives in a two-vehicle collision on US 287 in Hedley last Friday.

Jessica Schroeder, age 30, and husband Curtis, age 31, died at the scene when their Ford F-150 crew cab pickup collided with an oncoming semi-truck at about 2:16 p.m., Department of Public Safety Trooper Chris Ward said.

The Schroeders’ 10-year-old son, Wolfgang, died Saturday morning at approximately 9:00 a.m. at North West Texas Hospital in Amarillo. Fourteen-month-old Augustus Schroeder survived the accident and is reported in stable condition.

The pickup, driven by Mrs. Schroeder of Keller, Texas, was southbound on inside lane of US 287 just inside the east city limits of Hedley when it veered across traffic and impacted behind the driver’s door of northbound J.B. Hunt semi-truck, which was in the outside lane.

The pickup slammed into the rear wheels of the semi-truck, DPS spokesman Daniel Hawthorne said. The semi-truck went into the north ditch, and the pickup spun 180 degrees counterclockwise and came to rest facing northwest in the inside lane.

Donley County Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson of Clarendon pronounced the mother and the father, who were the driver and the front seat passenger, dead at the scene. The older boy was airlifted to NWTH, and the infant was taken to NWTH by the Associated Ambulance Authority, where grandparents of the children later arrived.

The driver of the semi-truck, Kevin George of Watauga, Texas, was treated and released at the scene by Clarendon EMS.

Ward said witnesses told him that both vehicles appeared to have been traveling about 55 mph. He could not say with certainty what caused the accident.

“At this point, I would say that she (Mrs. Schroeder) was distracted by one of the children. That happens a lot, but I can’t prove it or disprove it. It’s strictly speculation.”

The accident caused US 287 to be blocked for a period of time. Traffic was restored to partial flow after approximately two hours and to full flow after approximately three and a half hours.

The Texas Department of Transportation employees from Hall and Donley counties along with the Donley County Sheriff’s Office, the Constable of Precinct 3&4, the Clarendon and Hedley volunteer fire departments, DPS, and Associated Ambulance responded to the accident.