UPDATE: Husband and wife killed in Ridgecrest wreck

Published 12:01 am Thursday, October 10, 2013

Justin Sellers / The Natchez Democrat — Louisiana State Police, Concordia Parish Fire District No. 2 and Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office personnel hold up a tarp to remove two people killed in a three-car wreck on U.S. 84 in Ridgecrest Wednesday night.

Justin Sellers / The Natchez Democrat — Louisiana State Police, Concordia Parish Fire District No. 2 and Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office personnel hold up a tarp to remove two people killed in a three-car wreck on U.S. 84 in Ridgecrest Wednesday night.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m.

RIDGECREST — A Ferriday husband and wife were killed Wednesday night in a three-car collision in Ridgecrest.

Louisiana State Police Spokesman Scott Moreau said Carolyn F. Smith, 77, was driving a 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck with her husband, Welton Smith Jr., in the car when Carolyn. Smith reportedly failed to yield when entering Louisiana 84.

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That caused, Moreau said, two eastbound cars to collide with the Smiths’ truck, which caught fire after the wreck.

The cars were driven by Robert Perry, 25, of Ridgecrest, and Clifford E. Payne Jr., 43, of Vidalia.

Payne Jr. was not wearing his seatbelt and received moderate injuries, Moreau said.  He was taken to Riverland Medical Center for treatment.

Perry and his passenger, Galen L. Jefferson, 31, of Ferriday, were not wearing their seat belts, Moreau said, and received moderate injuries.  Both were taken to Natchez Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Moreau said police do not know if the Smiths were wearing their seat belts.

Routine toxicology tests are pending, and the crash remains under investigation.

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RIDGECREST — A three-vehicle collision on U.S. 84 in Ridgecrest Wednesday night resulted in two deaths after one of the vehicles caught fire following the wreck.

The collision, which occurred at approximately 8:50 p.m. Wednesday across the street from Champlin’s Furniture, blocked traffic from both sides of the highway for several hours.

Debris from the three vehicles were scattered throughout all lanes of the highway, and a blue tarp covered a pick-up truck as the vehicle continued to smoke.

Louisiana State Patrol, Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office and Concordia Parish Fire District No. 2 officials all responded to the scene.

CPSO Chief Deputy David Hedrick confirmed the death of two people inside the pick-up truck, but no details were available at press time.

Hedrick said the state police would be conducting the investigation into the cause of the wreck as well as notifying the families involved.